Upon the Wings of Art and Science
by Ginger Freak
Summary: What would happen if Max and her flock end up in some town on the coast of Italy searching for the last of the Itex Corporation, where a certain phantom thief resides? Suspence!Lots of laughs, action and craziness. Warning Mild Yaoi! Dark/Dai, Max/Fang
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfic ever!! And I'm a fan of DNAngel and Maximum ride so naturally I've read fanfics about them. I noticed there are not a lot of crossovers for these stories and I thought what would happen if these two were in the same story?**

**This is my version…so ENJOY!!**

**Disclaimer: I do ****not**** own Maximum ride or DNAngel. (I wouldn't be writing this fanfic if I did)**

* * *

'Maaaaaaaax are we nearly there yet!?'

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. We had been traveling for at least five hours now non stop and even I am feeling the strain. When I say 'we' I mean me, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gassy and Angel, and when I mean traveling I don't mean by bus, train, airplane or walking for that matter. Nope we are flying with our very own genetically engineered 2 percent bird and 98 percent human grown wings. I am Maximum Ride, I am a white Avian American age 14, my hobbies are flying, cookie tasting and beating the shit out of erasers and school scientists.

'It's just another half an hour or so guys' I said to the tired flock. We were headed towards Italy in hopes of finding and destroying the last base of the Itex Corporation. I heard several groans behind me.

'You said that the last half an hour ago!' Gassy whined

'Actually it was five minutes ago,' corrected Iggy

'Same thing!'

I gritted my teeth to stop me from snapping at them, for the last few miles we flew, I was constantly getting bombarded with complaints particularly from the younger years of our flock. It's become especially annoying when Gassy started the stupid 'Are we there yet?' game, which in my opinion, is so not fun.

'Look guys I know we're all tired, but it's only twenty minutes away from land and then we can rest and recuperate.'

You see, we are currently flying over the sea right now, I refused to stop and take a break at the last place the kids wanted to stop because it was a Reptile house, it may have been nice and warm in there to sleep in, but there was no way I was spending the night with snakes all around me, even if they were in cages. So I decided to keep us going for another hour or so and then we hit the Mediterranean Sea and kept going. If my source of information is correct, a.k.a. the Voice in my head, we should soon reach some town on the coast which is quite close to Venice.

'I wish we stopped in that Reptile house, I didn't get a chance to see the pythons.' said Nudge

I shivered at the mentioning of snakes. Pythons? Who would want to see a huge, legless, scaly, creepy, venomous thing that would no doubt love to have a small bird kid for breakfast?

'_Pythons aren't venomous Max, they suffocate their prey before swallowing them whole'_

That doesn't make me feel any better! I mentally screamed

'_You need to conquer your fears Max, and then nothing can stop you from saving the world'_

Whatever.

'Land Ho!' shouted Gassy

'Finally' Iggy muttered

'Alright guys! When we get there I'm treating you all to pizza, sound good?!' I said

'ALRIGHT!"

'YES!'

'I want double everything on mine!'

To be honest, not only did I think that they needed a treat, but the promise of food is a good motivation to get them going at a slightly quicker pace. I looked over at my flock and pleased to see that their spirits have perked up, even Fang, although he didn't show it, I knew he was happy that we were coming closer to land and some pizza.

'Remember guys, stay alert for erasers and pick pockets alright?'

'Aye aye Cap'in!' Gassy playfully replied.

Fang rolled his eyes as if saying 'Yeah right, as if we look like we have money'

* * *

Meanwhile in a small house near the coast, a 14 year old Daisuke Niwa was out on his balcony starring at the sunset, some of the stars had begun to come out and the sea glowed pink near the horizon. Daisuke sighed to himself and went inside.

'_What's the matter Daisuke? you're not still brooding over Risa's rejection are you?'_

'Wha' no! It's just…'

'_Just what?'_

'Well…I've been having a funny feeling recently and I can't really explain it, it's like something strange is going to happen'

'_Something bad?'_

'No, I don't think so, just something interesting'

'_Interesting hmm? Like you and Creepy boy getting together?'_ Daisuke's alter ego teased before bursting out laughing at his lights reaction.

'DARK!! I AM NOT GAY! I LIKE RISA! RISAAAA!!' Daisuke shouted.

'Are you alright Daisuke? What are you shouting about?'

Daisuke whipped around to see his mother Emiko sticking her head through his bedroom door with a concerned expression on her face.

'Huh? No, everything's fine Mom, I'm just arguing with Dark' with that said her face changed into a happy smile.

'Oh Daisuke! It's nice to know that you and Dark are getting on so well! Dinner's in 15 minutes by the way.' She closed the door and Daisuke could hear her humming some happy tune as she went down the stairs.

'What part of the word arguing means that we get along' Daisuke mentally asked himself.

'_Your mother is just a happy woman; she's probably pleased that you accept my existence'_

'Huh? Accept your existence? What do you mean?'

'_You don't ignore me; you treat me like a friend or a brother, even if to you I seem to be an annoying one. It maybe hard to believe Daisuke but I have had tamers in the past who have denied my existence entirely, even when I was in control. That made me…very lonely.'_

'Dark…'

'_But that's in the past and you aren't one of them, I'm glad that you accept me Daisuke and I'm sorry you have to put up with me. You and me are buddies right?'_

Daisuke was somewhat shocked at Dark's confession but was pleased to know Dark wasn't always a jerk. He gave a small smile.

'Right'

'_Partners?'_

Dark appeared in the conscious part of Daisuke's mind and held out his hand, Daisuke made a mental image of himself and grasped Dark's hand, shaking it.

'Partners.'

'_Great! This means you won't mind if I steal your body from time to time.'_

'What! DARK!! You twisted thief, you can't just use me like that!'

'_We're partners aren't we? We work together. I go to do the stealing and you, my little Dai-chan, do the training that helps me do the stealing. You get to spend almost 24/7 in that scrawny body of yours and I only get a few hours, if that, every week or so. You can't really blame me for wanting to feel what real life is like.'_

'That's because it's _my_ body and _my_ life.'

'_Please Dai-chan'_

Daisuke turned his head away, an expression of deep thought on his face.

'I'll think about it Dark'

'_Is that a yes then?!'_

'Maybe, but Dark…' Dark stopped his little celebration dance to turn his full attention to a very serious Daisuke.

'IF I agree to this, big emphasis on the IF, you will go by my conditions of what you do'

'_Like?'_

'Well for starters you can stop calling me Dai-chan, another thing, you won't do anything that will either endanger us or get us caught and you would have to wear a disguise so you won't be recognized.'

'_Done'_

'And one last thing…' Daisuke glared at Dark while Dark looked on with amusement.

'_What's that?'_

'Don't. Go. Anywhere. Near. Risa…Am I clear?'

'_Perfectly, by the way Daisuke, your Mother is calling you to dinner.'_

Daisuke withdrew himself back to the real world and indeed heard his Mom calling him, he replied and quickly scurried down the stairs almost tripping and falling. Dark just chuckled in the back of his mind.

* * *

**This is just to get it started… you know set the setting and stuff. I decided to set the place in Italy because the setting in the anime certainly doesn't look like Japan to me. Anyway, review please!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Grrrrrrrr... I'm really getting frustrated with this editing system, Oh well I've finally found how to work this thing. Here's chapter 2, i'm trying my very best to keep these characters_ in_ character so if they are ooc at times goman nasi!**

* * *

We had landed in a Park area and settled in the trees, it was fairly dark now and no one, with normal human eyes anyway, would see us. I was finishing my last bites of pepperoni, spicy chicken, bacon, green peppers, olives and mushroom pizza, feeling a lot better now my wings have had a rest and my stomach was full. We hadn't encountered any enemies so far but I still haven't put my guard down. Fang came to sit on the same branch as me and we kept an eye on everyone either settling down for the night or fighting over the last slice of pizza. For some reason this made me feel at peace, I didn't feel like some mutant bird kid running for her life while at the same time taking care of the flock, it was as though this is how things should be, together as a family, my family.

'What's on your mind?'

I gave Fang a questioning glance and he smirked at me.

'You've got this really sappy un-Max look on your face.'

I glared at him; his smirk unwavering then returned my attention back to the flock.

'I was just thinking,' I could feel his gaze on me, waiting for me to continue '…how nice this is and wishing we could be like this forever.'

'You and the rest of us know that's not gunna happen, with Itex still trying to kills us'

'And the kids wanting to find their parents' I added

I've really tried to keep these thoughts at bay, but when they surface they make me want to cry. Me, the great Maximum Ride, strong, defiant leader, wants to cry. I can feel the tears sting at the corners of my eyes and I move so that my hair covers my face to hide from Fang.

'After Itex is gone, what's going to happen to us? Are we going to stick together? Find a place to call home and be a family? Or are we going to…split up…and…be with our…birth parents.'

My voice was becoming hoarse with the fight to not cry, I will not cry, I mustn't cry, I can't afford to show weakness, I have to be strong. I took a long shaky breath and calmed down somewhat. Slowly letting the breath go, I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. I looked up to see Fang face mere inches from mine and my breath caught in my throat. He was truly beautiful in a dark and dangerous way; his dark raven locks framed his face and partially hid his deep dark eyes making him as mysterious as his personality. In the dim moon light his skin glowed, making him look like some radiant creature of the night. He kept eye contact with those penetrating eyes, I felt like he was searching my very soul while I could only see the moon light reflected in his. It had always bugged me how I couldn't always read Fang, I've gotten better after living with him for 14 years but he can read me like a book. He reached up to my cheek and brushed away a tear that I hadn't noticed I had shed.

'Whatever happens after Itex, whether we stay together or find our parents, the kids no doubt will still want to find out about them, Iggy's parents wanted to turn him into a freak show and won't want to go back there and you returned to us despite them being great parents. Me? I don't care if I find them or not, but I will make one thing certain Max, I am never going to make the mistake of leaving you again, even if the others leave you're stuck with me.'

If I wanted to say anything, I couldn't have. I was left speechless and I could feel my tears streaming down my face and Fang continued to wipe them away. Then he was leaning forward closing the gap between us. Just moments before our lips made contact Gassy drops in over our heads hanging from the branch above us.

'Fang and Max sitting in a tree K.I.S.S.I.N.G!!'

'Gassy!'

I reached out to grab the little horror but he quickly swung upwards and took off to a nearby tree laughing. I move to get up but Fang stops me, I look at him to see a rare smile on his face.

'Let him go.'

'Are you kidding me? He's going to make up all sorts of stories which are going to be far worse than seeing us…'

I stopped short; I couldn't quite say the last word and my cheeks heated up.

'Kissing?' Fang finished for me still smiling. 'Don't worry, even if he does the flock aren't going to believe him, he exaggerates to much'

'But still! Spying and creeping up on us like that…'

'Don't worry; we'll give him a warning tomorrow that if he does that again, a certain little secret of his is no longer going to be secret,' he said with a wicked grin.

Just then Fang really did look like a creature of the night.

'What secret?' I asked cautiously.

'It doesn't matter, he just has to know that I know about it and he'll behave.'

I gave Fang a disapproving look then collapsed against the trunk intending to go to sleep.

'I take first watch then'

I felt the branch move and creak as he took off into the night, his dark clothes and wings easily blending with the night sky.

I was left to ponder with my thoughts. Truthfully, I don't want us to break up, any of us. I love them all dearly and I know it will pain me greatly if we do, but I have to be supportive to the kids, they're still young and need the love of their parents, even if it's not me anymore…

'_Its part of growing up Max, you're still growing up too.'_

Then I don't want to grow up.

'_Peter Pan and Neverland don't exist, sweetheart; you must stay focused and accept reality'_

Let me guess, so I can save the world?

'_Exactly'_

I groaned, thinking about this isn't going let me sleep any time soon. I turned on my back and looked up at the stars through the branches trying to clear my head.

I had gotten at least five minutes sleep until I was suddenly wide awake with the hairs on the back of my head prickling. Oh how I love my mutant instincts. Moments later there was a buzz of activity right above us. Flyboys, hundreds of them had swarmed around us and formed a solid mass of flesh and machinery. How did they get this close? Didn't Iggy hear them? And where's Fang?

'Guys! Down and away! Fly under them quick!'

The erasers were falling down and looked as though they were using themselves as a net. My reliable flock was, of course, awake and were out of there before you could say 'I'm gone.' Iggy and Gassy must have left a present in the trees because no less than 10 seconds later there was a huge explosion, that took out a fair number of them, ok then over half of them. Where the hell do those guys get the chemicals to make those things?

The net of erasers had broken apart and either crashed in the trees or managed to fly upward again. I called the flock to regroup and I counted the numbers, everyone was here except…

'FANG!!' I called.

I got no response and he wasn't among the erasers, could he have been hit by the bomb? The erasers were homing in on us I tensed up ready to fight when Gassy tugged on my leg.

'Max! These things can't stand water!' He looked over his shoulder and I got his drift.

'Everyone get to the ocean, now!'

We turned and quickly flew to the beach with the erasers hot on our tail feathers. When we were a safe distance out to sea where it won't be too shallow, I hope.

'Dive!' I called and we all fell into free fall and the erasers copied. Geez you think they would have caught on by now, but I'm not complaining! We hit the water at full speed and my God it hurt! Have you ever done a belly flop while diving into the pool? Well it was a bit like that! I swam a bit deeper and forward to get out the way of suicide erasers that were sparking and shutting down as soon as their systems were water-logged. I surfaced and counted heads.

'Is everyone alright?'

'I'm ok'

'I'm good'

'I'm cold!'

'I'm alright'

'Has anyone seen Fang?' I got negative responses. Crap, where are you Fang?

We got to shore safely and everyone turned to me.

'What we gonna do now?' was written on their faces. Ok, we weren't flying anywhere soon with our wings soaked and we still have to find Fang.

'Ok firstly we're going to go back to the park and search for Fang, and then we'll decide what we do from there.' I said

We searched the entire park area but there was no sign of him.

'Max, I'm getting really cold' Angel shivered.

'Max, I know you want to find Fang, we all do, but we really need to find somewhere warm to spend the rest of the night or else we're going to have some serious colds. Since he's not here, we can make the assumption that he got away.' Said Iggy wisely

I couldn't help but think, if that's the case then why hasn't he come back?

'Alright' I agreed quietly 'Guys! We're going to find somewhere to sleep then we'll try and find him in the morning, compondré?'

* * *

**The plot thickens...**

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Longer chappie this time, and this is the point where things get interesting.**Krad was flying across the night sky, pleased that he had finally gained control of his pathetic tamer Satoshi

* * *

Krad was flying across the night sky, pleased that he had finally gained control of his pathetic tamer Satoshi. This time he was surely going to defeat Dark and it will be done when he, Krad was in full control. Darks target tonight was a Hikari artwork from the main museum where he was headed. His flight path flew over one of the park areas which those stupid humans are so fond of. Krad stopped in his tracks as he saw a dark figure sitting on one of the wind turbines. Krad's position was behind the silhouetted youth and because he was flying he was able to see him, if he was on the ground he would have missed him. What had caught Krad's attention the most was that he had wings as black as night.

Dark.

It seemed that his centre of attention was on a section of trees and Krad smirked as he focused in on his prey. What Dark was doing, Krad didn't care; all that he cared about is that he was here and he was going to take him out!

Suddenly the youths head shot up, Krad followed his line of vision to see a huge black mass of some sort of cloud forming over the trees that Dark had been watching. Dark made his move to get up but Krad wasn't about to let him.

'Leaving so soon, Dark?'

His features still hidden in shadows, the youth turned sharply to find a glowing feather shooting straight towards him. His quick reflexes got him quickly into the air and watched as the area where he was previously expanded into a glowing sphere and revealed the wind turbine completely melted where the sphere made contact. Krad heard the youth swear, and saw him try to make a get away.

'Aren't you going to fight Dark? Or have you realised that I am better than you!'

Krad released more energised feathers and continued to pursue Dark, there was something amiss about this situation. Firstly he wasn't fighting back and secondly he hadn't said anything, no insults, nothing. Krad chased him through the trees and sneered.

'What's the matter Dark-kun? Cat got your tongue?!'

Krad released a huge energy ball which gained on the dark angel. Unexpectedly at the last minute Dark arched upwards turning in midair over the top of his energy ball and shooting straight towards him. Wait a minute, since when did Dark learn fancy aerobatics like that?! Krad was so shocked he didn't react when clearly a clenched fist was heading for his face. Krad spun in the air and crashed into a neighbouring tree. He painfully rose to his feet and looked up in time to see a black streak heading towards him. Not this time he thought, he waited for just the right moment and then let fly a well aimed feather. Dark had no time to dodge as the feather connected to his right wing, he yelled out in pain and quickly descended, scraping across the ground as he landed on his front, receiving a collection of cuts and scrapes. Clutching his bleeding wing, he looked up as Krad towered over him with a confused frown. It was only now that Krad realised that this was not Dark at all. It was a young boy, looking about the age of 15-16 but the dark eyes and face did not belong to Dark. Also if it was him, then his wings would have transformed into that fuzz ball that Dark likes to keep around when his feather connected. The boy stood up and backed off slightly, his body tense and in a fighting stance and blood flowed from his wing and dripped onto the cold ground.

'Who are you?' Krad asked harshly.

The kid didn't say anything but narrowed his eyes. They were cold, hard eyes, like he had been through hard times and had his fair share of torment. Rethinking his approach, Krad took in the boy's appearance, he obviously wasn't native to here but then again neither was he. It could be the kid doesn't even understand what he's saying. Irritated, Krad switched to English, hoping that this kid at least knew that.

'You're not from around here are you?' Krad tried again

The boy blinked, confirming he understood but refused to say anything. Krad growled.

'You either answer my question or I'll force it out of you, who the hell are you!'

'That's none of your business' he replied dangerously.

Krad smirked, the kids got guts, this could be fun.

'Oh really? I shoot you down from the sky thinking you were my rival and find its some freak kid look-a-like. I am rather pissed off at the moment, so unless you'd like both wings out of action, I suggest you reconsider what is and isn't my business.' Krad threatened.

The boy bared his teeth defiance and took a step back.

'Hmm still don't want to talk? Well I'll give you one last chance and this time I'll be more civil about it'

Krad took a mocking bow.

'My name is Krad Hikari. It's a _pleasure_ to meet you'

Krad held out his hand to shake but the boy didn't move.

'You know, if one introduces himself he should receive the same courtesy' Krad said calmly.

The boy said something.

'What was that? I didn't hear you'

'It's Fang'

'Well _Fang _why don't we go back to my place and have this chat in a more comfortable environment'

Again Fang said something through gritted teeth.

'Pardon?' Krad smirked

'I said NO!' Krad cocked an eyebrow, 'After what you just did, you expect me to just go with you like nothing happened? How stupid do you think I am?!'

Krad approached Fang until there was only a foot gap between them. The patient mask was gone and was replaced with an impassive frown.

'Not at all, but I'm not giving you a choice.'

Krad quickly lifted the feather in his hand up to Fangs face, illuminating it as it glowed, Fangs eyes widened before glazing over and drooping, and his body collapsed into Krad's arms unconscious.

* * *

Dark had a satisfied smirk on his face; he had successfully retrieved the artwork which was now tucked in his back pack, without even a peek from the commander or his evil white winged half. Which was a strange thing in itself but Dark wasn't going to ponder over it, he was ecstatic that Daisuke had agreed to loan him his body now and again and was thinking of all the things he'd wanted to do and see which he'd never had the chance before.

'_I know your really happy Dark, but try to stay focused on what your doing, we're not home yet and you almost made the simplest of mistakes tonight'_

'Almost doesn't count Daisuke and if you're so worried why don't you take control for a while?'

Dark withdrew to Daisuke's mind and allowed the fiery red head control, automatically changing their appearance to Daisuke's features and smaller figure.

'Ahhh, Dark! You lazy baka! How am I supposed to get down from here?!'

'_Oh I'm sure you'll think of something'_ Dark chuckled.

'Dark no baka!'

Dark had left his tamer the chore of somehow finding a way down from a houses roof, but this particular house had 3 floors instead of the traditional 2 so it was extra high.

Daisuke managed to find a way down and by the end of it he was rather pale by the number of near death situations he got himself in. He started to walk home, the street was completely deserted and the orange light of the street lamps emphasised the shadows. Daisuke was mentally telling himself there is nothing to be afraid of and continued down the road. He was a few streets away from his house, when he heard something down the alleyway between the pet shop and the building next to it. As he got closer he could hear that it was somebody speaking and from the sound of it was a young child. He thought it might be a run away or a lost child so he went to have a look. He got his torch out his bag and got closer to the mouth of the alley way. He could hear the words clearly now, but what surprised him was that the voice was speaking in English, he wasn't aware of any English residents around here, apart from Mio who came from America but she got transferred. He got to the entrance of the alley and shone his torch beam within. His eyes widened seeing that there wasn't just one child, there were five! Well three that look to be in their teenage years and two youngsters. All eyes were on him with shocked expressions. Daisuke was equally shocked, these kids looked like they were just dragged out of the swimming pool and the younger kids were clinging to the older teens shivering, obviously cold.

'Oh my God, are you lot alright?'

Daisuke got no response despite him using English. One of the smaller kids sneezed.

'Look I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Daisuke Niwa, I want to help'

One of the teens, a girl turned to the smaller girl in her arms as though asking confirmation. The small girl looked at Daisuke with big bright blue eyes as if analysing him. He smiled at her and she smiled back and she nodded to the teen. The teen looked up to him but with a defensive look in her eyes, untrusting.

'How exactly would you help us?'

'Well…uh…I guess you could stay at my house for a while until we can sort things out'

'Would you have room for all of us?'

'Er…I don't know, but we'd manage somehow, I don't like the thought of leaving you guys down here, I can imagine its scary that a complete stranger is offering you to come into their home, like it's a bit scary for me to offer my hospitality to strangers, and no offence but I'm particularly terrified of you' he said to the girl teen with an awkward smile. A small amused smile appeared on the girls face and Daisuke continued.

'But we're all people and people should help each other when they need help, that's the humane thing to do, right?'

There was a pause after Daisuke's sentimental speech.

'That's the naïvest thing I've ever heard'

'Naïvest isn't a word Iggy'

'Is now, ok then how about this, this guy is a girly, naïve, innocent pushover'

'I'm standing right here you know?'

'Well excuse me because I'm blind'

'Iggy! Just ignore him, he's in a bad mood'

'So I've noticed, well anyway my house is just a few streets from here, you ready to go?'

'Yep!'

The little girl that was in the teens arms leapt up and grabbed Daisuke's hand shaking it violently.

'Hi! My name's Angel, what was yours again?'

Daisuke smiled at Angels antics. 'Daisuke'

'Nice to meet you Daisuki!'

Daisuke winced at the accent and tried to correct her.

'It's Daisu_ke_ not _ki_'

'Ok Daisuki!'

He gave up.

On the way home Daisuke learned that the teenage girl was basically the mother of the group and called Max. He always thought Max was a boys name but he wasn't going to question it. The other moody teen was a guy called Iggy and he is blind, the last of the teens was about a year or two younger and she was called Nudge. Cute name, Daisuke thought. The two children were brother and sister and they were Angel and Gassy.

Daisuke got out his keys and opened the door, calling to his family that he was home in his home language. Rushing into the hallway was a very stressed out Emiko.

'Daisuke where the hell have you been! The theft was at least an hour ago! I was worried sick! I…'

Emiko stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the run down group of kids standing in the doorway.

'Err…hi mom, I found these guys on the street and they have no where else to go, can they stay?'

Emiko was looking from face to face until she ran forwards screaming,

'Oh the poor darlings they look frozen stiff!'

'And mom, they speak English' explained Daisuke switching to the said language.

'English? Oh my word it been a while since I speak English' Emiko said in English with a heavy Japanese accent.

She dropped on her knees to Gassy and Angel's level and placed a hand on their foreheads.

'You're all flushed and have temperature! Poor dears, Daisuke can you get the futons from the basement?'

'The basement?' Daisuke asked bewildered, last time he checked the basement was a ritual site, defiantly no futons in there. Emiko had gotten up and pressed her hand against the others as well with a concerned look on her face.

'The other basement dear'

Daisuke nodded his head and ran down the hall. Emiko hushed the five bewildered children into the house and began fussing over them, muttering something about being out in the cold in this weather. Emiko told them to make themselves comfortable while she made them some Miso soup and she ran into the kitchen.

'That's the most hyper mum I have ever seen' commented Gassy

'But she's really nice, she didn't even care that we literally just came off the streets' said Angel

'Does anyone know what Miso soup is?' Nudge asked

Just then Daisuke comes back carrying a futon mattress under each arm.

'Mom, where do you want me to put them?'

'Just put them in the living room for now Daisuke'

Daisuke placed the mattresses aside and was about to seat himself down when his mother called again.

'Oh Daisuke, could you take the boys and find some change of clothes?'

'Hai' he replied 'Come on then Gassy, Iggy we'll see what we can find'

'And Dai-chan…' Daisuke stiffened at the nickname 'afterwards can you find Towa-chan to do the same for the girls'

'Hai!'

Daisuke then muttered under his breath about hyper mothers and their nicknames. Daisuke led the guys into his room and started shuffling around his wardrobe and pulled out a t-shirt and shorts that don't fit any more and gave them to Gassy. He then looked at Iggy who was about the same size as Dark. He raided the thief's side of the wardrobe and got out a black shirt and a pair of black trousers.

'How come you've got clothes in there that are Iggy's size yet are too big for you?' asked a curious Gassy.

Daisuke laughed embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head.

'Well at some point I'm expecting a growth spurt and my mother just happened to fall in love with these when they were on sale' he lied.

'Oh ok, your mum is cool but really weird'

'Yeah, don't I know it'

'Is there anywhere we can change?' asked Iggy

'Sure there's a bathroom just in there' Daisuke said pointing at a door.

'You've got an attached bathroom? Sweet!' exclaimed Gassy 'Anything else you got in here besides a bunk bed and sofa?'

'Well' He moved over to the window and pulled the curtain open, 'I have a balcony'

Gassy was looking at him gob smacked 'you've got everything man'

'Does he have a computer?' asked Iggy coming out of the bathroom fully dressed in Darks attire. That was quick thought Daisuke.

'No'

'Then he doesn't have everything does he?' he said bitterly.

Daisuke frowned at Iggy's attitude and judging from Gassy's expression, he wasn't used to this either.

'_What's his problem?'_said Dark suddenly.

'I don't know' Daisuke mentally thought back. Gassy thought now would be a good time to escape to the bathroom, leaving Daisuke and Iggy alone, and if anything the tension in the air got thicker.

'Why are you helping us?' Iggy said eventually, making Daisuke jump.

'It's like I said back in the alley, I wanted to help'

'But why? Why are you making all this effort?'

Daisuke stopped a moment to think why. Because he can, because it's the right thing to do, but any of these answers he doubted Iggy would believe. And then hit him, Iggy was testing him to find out if can be truly trust worthy. Daisuke smiled, he was just being protective of himself and his friends, but to become this untrusting, they must have gone through a hell of a lot.

'You don't trust very many people do you?'

'I have very good reason not to'

'You can't have met all the good people there are out there then'

'There is no such thing as a truly good person, everyone has a dark side'

'Don't I know it' Daisuke mentally thought. 'But not everyone is overrun by it' he said aloud. 'I can tell you haven't had the best of life and I'm not going to pity you or pry into your past life, if you want to tell me or not either way is fine. But take it or leave it the only reason I helped is because I wanted to and I still do, whether you accept it or reject it is entirely up to you. But if there is anything in my power that I can do even if it's not a lot, to help those who need it, I will do it. You can call me girly, stupid and naïve; I've had my fair share of that but that does not change who I am and the fact that I am a caring person'

Iggy had focused his unseeing gaze on Daisuke and seemed to be digesting what he said. Very slowly a smile tugged at the edge of his lips, then a grin and then he was laughing so hard he was holding the sides of his ribs. Daisuke didn't know how to take this sudden change and just stood there eyeing Iggy cautiously.

'You really _are_ girly' he managed to choke out 'I guess was wrong about you' Iggy continued to laugh.

'Err…thanks…I think' Daisuke wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or not.

'I guess I owe you an apology'

'No need, I figured what you were trying to do so lets start over'

'Right' Iggy let out the last of his laughter out and held his hand out in Daisuke's direction, 'I'm Iggy Griffin, it's nice to meet you Daisuke'

Daisuke walked forward and grasped Iggy's hand firmly 'It's nice to meet you too Iggy-san'

'Say Daisuke?'

'Yeah?'

'Your name doesn't sound very Italian and neither did that conversation with your mom, where do really come from, Russia?'

'No actually, my family originally came from Japan'

'Really? Awesome so you're quite the linguist then, knowing Italian, Japanese and English'

'And currently learning Spanish'

'Wow, hey Daisuke what was with that nickname earlier, what was it Dai-chan?

'Oh no don't start'

'What does it mean exactly?

'In Japanese we put these endings on the end of our names to show how we are related to each person. For someone of a high rank or employer you would call them -Sama, for someone you respect or don't know you add –san, you also put san at the end if it's someone you know who is a boy and if it's a girl you add –chan.'

'So basically your mother is calling you a girl?'

'Your mother would call you a girl too Iggy if you weren't so tall' said Gassy finally emerging from the bathroom.

'What took you so long?'

'I was listening in on your conversation trying to figure out what made you tick, you were acting really strange, I thought you might have had your brain switched with Fang'

'Was I really that passive?'

'Yes' both Daisuke and Gassy replied, even though Daisuke had no idea who Fang was.

'Well, I better find Towa-chan and get the girls sorted, mom should be almost finished making the soup so you go down to the living room'

Gassy and Iggy went back down stairs into the living room and got strange reactions from the girls.

'Whoa, who died?' asked Max laughing

'What?' asked Iggy completely confused.

'You're like totally dressed in black; you look like one of those guys from the men in black movies' chirped Angel

'Or going to a funeral' added Max.

'I think Iggy looks hot' said Nudge

There was silence as everyone looked at Nudge and Iggy felt a blush flush to his cheeks

'He sure is now' laughed Max.

A little later, a bouncy silver haired woman in a maids outfit introduced herself as Towa-chan and took the girls away to get changed. Iggy was relieved because there was only a certain amount of teasing he could take. Emiko came in with a tray of tall cups filled with soup and said how smart he looked in it. That's all very well he thought but I can't see what I look like. Soon the girls came back and the boys turned to look at them, Daisuke who had returned when Towa-chan came in, stared wide eyed before looking in the opposite direction blushing. Gassy, who had no modesty for such things; just starred forgetting it was rude with his mouth hung open and Iggy can't see and was wondering why everyone had gone silent.

'Oh my God' said Gassy

'What?' said Iggy irritated. He hated getting hung in suspense.

'Max is wearing a dress'

Iggy did a retake 'Come again?'

'Max is wearing a full blown frilly girly dress!'

A three second pause, then both Iggy and Gassy burst out laughing.

'It's not funny!' shouted Max

Gassy and Iggy were soon silenced by a sharp tap on the head by Emiko.

'Now boys, it's rude to make fun of a lady'

'Lady? What lady?' said Gassy

'Max is no lady, she's a full out tomboy' Iggy emphasised, and both got another tap on the head for their troubles. 'Ow' they both groaned.

'Let that be a lesson to you' scolded Emiko

'How come I get punished yet no one does anything when I get teased?'

'You're male' Towa-chan said as if that explained everything

'What's that got to do with anything?!' Iggy exclaimed.

'Now, now calm down and drink your soup, it will help fight your colds and then straight to bed'

'Err, Emiko? I don't mean to be rude or anything but do you expect us to wear _these_ to bed?' Max pointed to the fancy dresses that she and Nudge were forced to wear. Literally Towa-chan got really excited when she was asked to find some clothes for the girls and insisted they tried them on but refused to let them take them off again.

'Oh good heavens no, Towa probably got a bit excited playing dress up to think about night clothes'

'I'm really sorry, but don't you think they just look so kawaii!' Towa squealed.

'Yes, they do, eh Dai-chan?'

'Huh?'

'Don't you think the girls look lovely?'

'Eh, why are you asking me that?!' said a flustered Daisuke, a blush forming on his cheeks.

'Awwww, little Dai-chan is so easily flustered, perhaps he is forming a crush on them' said Towa-chan with a dreamy look on her face.

'NO I AM NOT!!' he exclaimed, his face as red as his hair. 'Why do you have to ask me such embarrassing questions?!'

'Because it's fun!' said Emiko and Towa-chan together.

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**I had fun writing this! Poor little Dai-chan, his mother and Towa-chan show no mercy...I guess that means that I don't either! Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**...I've got authors comment block.**

Fang awoke to find himself relatively comfortable. He opened his eyes to see that he was lying in a bed in a small plain room. It was dimly lit by the light of the moon filtering through the thin curtains. He tried to sit up but found it extremely difficult, it was like he was drained of energy or more likely, drugged. Finally managing to swing his legs over the edge, he went over what happened the last time he was awake.

'Damn, just _what_ was that guy?' Fang pondered. He hoped that Max and the flock were alright and then thought of options of getting out of there. He looked to the window above his bed and drew the curtains. Outside he could see a kind of posh driveway with a round about in front of the house. 'Am I in a mansion?' he thought, his second thought was with the condition of his wing, which he noted had been bandaged up, wouldn't be fit for flying for a couple of days. Besides the window was firmly locked and even if he broke the glass, he wouldn't fit through, and the fact that it was at least five floors up and by the look of the surrounding tiling, he was in an attic room. And not even he, with his mutant genetics couldn't jump from this height and land unscathed. Nope, window is out of the question. He turned to look at the room; it was a basic bedroom with a tall wardrobe, a chest of draws, a chair and a large wall mirror. The door was near the left hand corner of the room. Fang tried his luck at opening it and as expected it was locked. Right now he wished he had taken some lock picking tips of Iggy. He'd seen him do it before, how hard could it be? First he had to find something that would fit into the keyhole. A key would be nice but Fang would have to settle for a hair clip or a splinter of wood. He searched the room looking for any chipped floor boards and looked in the wardrobe and chest of drawers to see if anything was in there. They were both completely empty and the condition of the floor and furniture was flawless. Fang cursed, with his wing out of action and no idea where that long haired maniac was he didn't want to risk getting caught. That means no braking furniture to get a decent lock pick; the racket would surely attract attention. For now there was nothing he could do, so he went back to bed, hoping things will look better in the morning…yeah right.

Morning came too quickly for Fang, the thin curtains allowed way too much sunshine through and Fang could tell it was early. Deciding he wasn't going to get any more sleep, he groggily lifted himself on his forearms then stiffened as he sensed another presence in his room.

'Finally awake are we?' a cold voice stated.

Fang turned his head to see a teenage boy, no older than himself, sitting in the chair next to his bed. Fang was starting to think that this town has a seriously weird fashion sense. First he comes across a demonised angel with long blonde hair and golden eyes and now he meets a cold ice prince with blue eyes and light _blue_ hair. The boy also wore thin framed glasses and had the impression of wisdom beyond his age. He was starring down at Fang with a passive expression. Fang didn't like this guy at all. They starred each other down, neither of them blinking or speaking.

There was a soft knock on the door, and then it opened to reveal an older version of the boy. The man was in his forties and had brown hair with grey showing through and he was dressed in a business suit. He was obviously the boy's father. As soon as he came in the connection was broken and both teens switched their sights on the unwanted visitor.

'Ah Satoshi, there you are I've been looking all over for you, my son' he said with a large smile.

Satoshi narrowed his eyes at him and didn't try to hide the strong dislike he held for his father. If Fang didn't like Satoshi, then it is nothing compared to what he felt for this man. That smile had 'fake' written all over it and the sugar coated personality was exactly that, sugar coated. It was sweetly sickening. He reminded Fang of the lab coats back at the school and he suppressed a shiver.

'What do you want?' Satoshi said calmly

'Now, now, Sato, what's with the cold attitude? It doesn't bode well with your cute face' He said, again in that sickeningly sweet tone.

He had walked forward and placed a hand on his son's shoulder, bending down so he could speak right next to Satoshi's ear. The simple gesture wasn't half intimidating, Fang mentally noted that he never ever wanted to be in the same room alone with this guy, and he was really glad that he wasn't in Satoshi's shoes.

'That's not really the way you should treat your father now, is it?'

Fang barely caught what he said, but he did notice the grip on Satoshi's shoulder tighten and Satoshi visibly stiffened. His father smile widened once again but his grip didn't slack.

'Next time, show a little more respect yes?'

Satoshi seemed to have stopped breathing but he closed his eyes and lowered his head slightly, submitting. If Fang couldn't read people as well as he could, to anyone else it would seem like a friendly fatherly gesture between father and a moody teenager for a son. Satoshi's Father then turned to Fang as though just noticing he was there and rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion.

'I'm sorry, how rude of us, we haven't been introduced. I am Kei Hiwatari and this is my cute son Satoshi.'

Fang didn't say anything; he just stared at the pair. Kei looking at him with that fake smile on his face and Satoshi just sitting there with his head turned away from his father. Seeing that Fang wasn't going to say any thing, Kei did.

'You must be a bit confused after being in that accident, my little Satoshi found you, and the doctors entrusted you to us to look after you until you recover. Do you have any family nearby who we can contact for you?'

Fang remained silent.

'No? You poor boy, all alone out there, well that's going to change for a while' Kei gave another smile. 'I hope we can get along together. Fang'

Fang gave him a cold glare that rivaled Satoshi.

'I apologise but I have to take my leave now for I have work to do, but Sato here can keep you company for a while, he doesn't have school for another hour or so'

Kei gave Satoshi a quick kiss on the head then turned to leave the room.

'By the way Fang' Kei said as he reached the door 'you are free to wonder throughout the mansion, just don't leave the grounds' with that, Kei gave him one last smile and closed the door.

Both Satoshi and Fang listened to the gradual fading footsteps of Kei Hiwatari before relaxing.

'That was the creepiest guy I've ever met, he may be your father but he is a complete bastard, does he abuse you?'

Satoshi's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

'You figured all that from one meeting?'

'How can you _not_ notice?'

Satoshi smirked 'father doesn't drag me around to many places where there are lots of people, the rare occasions when he does people don't know the relationship we have and buy the first impression he gives them. Yet we've never met before and you saw right through it. I'm impressed.'

'Why do you hide it? If he abuses you then you should call the police or something'

Satoshi gave a small smile 'he doesn't really abuse me. He just uses me, and as for calling the police, my father _is_ the police and I'm his second commander.'

Fang didn't know what to say to that apart from 'shit'

'Don't worry yourself about me, you should be more concerned for yourself, I have no idea what my father intends to do with you and the fact that you are…err…unique shall we say? Makes it all the more dangerous for you'

Fang contemplated his options, he would have to get out of here pretty soon because he did not want to find out what Kei had in store for him. Another thing that bothered him was that Krad guy he fought; he knew Kei was lying when he said he was in an accident but why? Were he and Krad working together?

'Hey, Satoshi?' Fang thought he could trust Satoshi for now and wanted to confirm that his _accident_ last night wasn't some crazy dream. 'Did you really find me or was your father playing mind games?'

Satoshi's eyes widened once again, completely shocked.

'You remember what happened?!'

'Unless it was some crazy dream, I was attacked by a male Rapunzel with wings'

Satoshi was more or less gob smacked, this boy had some resistance against Krad's magic! He could remember what happened! Satoshi composed himself and cleared his throat.

'So…you remember Krad? Well let's get off the subject for a while and get you some clothes and some breakfast, is there anything in particular you would like?'

'Do you have macaroni cheese?'

'At this time in the morning?' Satoshi frowned.

'It is never too early for macaroni cheese' Fang stated defiantly.

* * *

'Kyuu'

I awoke to a strange noise and I could shake the feeling that I was being closely watched. I opened my eyes slowly and all I could see were these blurry shapes of colour.

'Kyuu!'

I blinked, vision clearing and finding a pair of huge red eyes goggling above me. Of what I could make out, leaning exceedingly close to my face was a white rabbit with over large eyes and flopped ears. The thing cocked its head at me and said,

'Kyu?'

I sat up suddenly, scaring the poor thing to fall off the arm rest of the sofa, I used for a bed, and land on Gassy's face.

'AHHHHH I don't want to wear a tampon!!' he yelled startled.

That woke the rest of the flock who were still sleeping. Iggy was sitting cross legged on the sofa opposite me; he obviously had been awake for a while. He had covered his mouth stifling the uncontrollable giggles that were triggered undoubtedly by Gassy's unusual proclaim. Nudge mumbled something incoherently and pulled her blanket over her head and Angel rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then got up from her futon on the floor and sat beside me. By the time Gassy had fully awakened and calmed down, Iggy was lying face down on the sofa laughing uncontrollably into the cushions.

'What's got him?' Gassy asked me. I gave him a look.

'You honestly don't remember what you just screamed 5 seconds ago?' Gassy looked confused.

'I did?'

'You did'

'What did I say?'

'AHH HA HA I DON'T WONNA WEAR A TAMPON!! HA HA HA!'

Iggy had finally managed to find the strength and the air to lift himself out of the cushions and repeat Gassy's scream, failing miserably at making an exact interpretation but it had the desired effect. Gassy looked horrified and a pink stain flooded his cheeks and ears.

'Ohayo gozaimas Mina-san, did you sleep well?'

Daisuke's mother Emiko came in at that moment, I didn't understand the first half of what she said but I guessed it was a morning greeting.

'Yeah, we did thanks' At least I think we all did after glancing at Gassy who was still red in the face. Emiko saw this then rushed over to him placing a hand on his forehead.

'My, my, you're all burnt up! Do you feel queasy? Have you a headache? Oh no was there something in the soup that you could be allergic to? Gomennasi I should have checked with you all first.'

I watched in amusement at Emiko's behaviour, she was genially a loving, caring mother, it's just her reaction to the smallest things can be somewhat over exaggerated, I thought as Gassy was being fussed over. The look on his face said that he wasn't having fun and I think Emiko was starting to scare him when she started asking if he'd had his Tetanus jab. Then again that would scare any of us, after living in cages for most of our lives and all the experiments the school had done to us, we all have this extreme fear of needles and closed spaces.

'No no no I'm fine honestly, I err…just have an unusual condition is all. Yeah I get a high blood pressure in the mornings, its harmless really' Gassy lied, and surprisingly Emiko bought it.

'Honto? Well in that case I'll make you some black tea, its really good for lowering blood pressure and it's healthy for you, I'll be right back'

Is it natural for someone to be this hyper in the morning? I asked myself as Emiko scurried to the kitchen area. I felt a pair of eyes on me and looked down to see Angel snuggled against me with that rabbit thing in her arms looking up at me. Looking at it now, 'rabbit thing' was probably the best way to describe it. Although it was undoubtedly cute it was also undoubtedly odd, its eyes were way too big and it had a long tail that was the same shape as its ears. Besides its unusual appearance, it seemed to have a strange call, but the last time I checked, rabbits rarely made any noise at all.

'Kyuuuu!' it growled at me. I just glared at it and it glared back.

'What is that?' Nudge asked. She had finally woken up after Emiko came in.

'Don't know, don't care' I said 'but we are not keeping it' I added after seeing the way Angel was looking at it. She hugged it closer to herself and tried to give me Bambi eyes. I was not going to submit this time, 'we already have a talking dog and that thing probably belongs to this family. We're not keeping it' I said sternly. Another reason I kept under wraps was that I had a strong dislike for the thing and it seemed to share the same feelings towards me. If Angel was reading my mind, which I hope she wasn't, it didn't seem to faze her.

'But its sooo cuuuuuuute!' Angel whined with watery eyes.

'So are you and if I had to pick between you and it, you know the answer to whom I'd choose'

Angel pouted cutely and continued to pet the thing.

'What exactly is it anyway' questioned Gassy 'it looks like a down sized porcupine with no spines and long ears' I think Gassy described it for Iggy's benefit, since he can't see.

'Sounds like something the School cooked up' commented Iggy

'Kyu?' the thing was looking at everyone curiously, not used to so much attention but seemed to be loving it.

'Do you think it can do anything? Like talk or change colour or something?' questioned Nudge.

'I think the thing's only vocabulary is 'kyu''

'Kyu! Kyu! Kyuuuuuu!' it was now lying on its back and having its tummy tickled.

Emiko came back with the tea and gave it to Gassy and informed us that she'll be making breakfast and scurried back to the kitchen again. Gassy sniffed the clear orange liquid and questioned on why it was called black tea when it was anything but.

'Just drink it Gassy' ordered Iggy, he seemed to have gone back into his bad mood again.

'What's the matter Iggy?' I asked in an authoritative way. These mood swings were not normal for him.

'Nothing'

'Bull' Gassy accused.

Iggy sighed and laid down on the sofa, I saw the troubled look on his face and could see he was debating with himself.

'Something's…just not right' he finally said.

'In what way?' I questioned. He went quiet for a while and I was about to ask again when he spoke up.

'I could just be imagining things or something is wrong with me' he confessed.

'Well you have been acting weird recently, you sure gave Dai-chan a hard time' commented Gassy. Iggy closed his sightless eyes and took a slow breath.

'Something is different about this place and it's constantly putting me on edge' he opened his eyes and frowned 'Daisuke…I didn't know whether or not we could trust him because…'

We were all staring at him waiting for him to continue 'because…?'

'It was the second time it had happened last night'

'What?!' was he purposely putting us in suspense? Come on Iggy enough with the dramatics! I mentally screamed at him.

'I didn't even hear them coming…the erasers I didn't hear until they were as close as 20 meters and I can usually hear them coming when they are much further away and Daisuke… I didn't even hear him at all until he was speaking to us'

This was quite surprising news, Iggy's hearing is extra sharp due to his blindness and usually nothing gets by him without him knowing about it. Seriously, he would be able to tell you how many crickets were chirping in a field and roughly what distance away they were. There was silence for a while as we absorbed all this.

'So…what do you make of all this' I asked him, my voice barely above a whisper but he heard. At least that means there's nothing wrong with his hearing.

'The erasers, I think had their stealth thrusters upgraded, that would explain why they got that close within my hearing range. Daisuke is…' Iggy let out a small laugh, 'bizarre to say the least, but I think there is something that he's hiding from us, I don't believe he is as truly innocent as he appears'

Great more problems for us, just another to add to our list. In order of major problems from top to bottom, in descending order the list goes something like this:

6. I have a voice in my head

5. A moody and on edge Iggy

4. Upgraded Erasers

3. A suspicious host

2. No idea where the Itex base is

1. Fang is missing

'So you still don't trust him?'

I got to admit that Daisuke is an easy one to gain trust with, but if Iggy still has his doubts then I will be sure to keep a closer eye on the so called innocent red head.

'I didn't say that, I believe that his intentions are true, I just think there's a hidden side to him that we can't see' he concluded, 'no pun intended on my part.'

'Oh man Iggy's gone all deep on us' said Gassy, totally destroying the tense atmosphere that had developed during Iggy's speech.

'Shut up and drink your tea' said Iggy.

Shortly after, Emiko returns with a few plates and then go back for a plate piled with pancakes. She also got a bowl of fruit and some sugar and lemon juice. She told us to dig in and that's exactly what we did, if I wasn't too busy eating I would have laughed at the shocked expression on her face. She was still standing there when we were finished and Angel politely asked if we could have some more and gave her the Bambi eyes. How could Emiko say no to that? We dived into seconds just as Daisuke comes rushing into the room in school uniform, runs towards the kitchen counter, skidding to a stop and plucks some toast out of the toaster and stuffs it into his mouth. He rushed out the room again, and I heard him yell something through the toast a bit like 'I'm going now!' and heard the opening and slamming of the front door. He was there and gone so fast that if I had blinked I might have missed him. Everyone seemed to have stopped eating, apart from the 'thing' that was happy depleting the strawberries from the fruit bowl.

'Who knew a skinny shrimp like him could move so fast!' exclaimed Gassy.

Later on, after we had washed and dressed we gathered once again in the living room which is being used as our bedroom, and were introduced to Daisuke's grandpa Daichii who was asleep when we showed up the other night. He was quite a happy character and we now know where Emiko gets it from, although she expresses it in an over done female way. He joked with us and didn't seem bothered at all that we suddenly appeared on his doorstep but he did make it strictly clear that he didn't want us to go into the basement. At this I gave a stern glace in Gassy and Iggy's direction. Eventually we got on the subject of the flock and what we were going to do.

'You've managed to come a long way from America, are you willing to tell us why?' asked Daichii'

'No' was my immediate response. Daichii sighed.

'I thought as much, well never mind' he brought his smile back 'what do you plan on doing now?'

'We need to find Fang…' after consulting with the flock earlier, we believed that we could trust the Niwas as long as we don't give away too much information, '…and then we'll be on our way again'

'Fang? Is this another one of your group?' he asked

'Yes, we got separated but we couldn't find him' I explained

'If it's a missing child should we go to the police about this?' asked a concerned Emiko

'NO!' we all said. Both Emiko and Daichii were a bit surprised at our outburst and looked at us all curiously. 'Look, we really appreciate you taking us in but really we don't want the police involved'

'Were not criminals or anything…' added Iggy

'Absolutely not! You don't think we're bad people do you Emiko?' Angel directed at her with teary eyes. I really should have talk to her about that, since I forbid her from using her telepathic abilities she's been practicing her Bambi eyes and guess who she's been practicing on.

'Ie, not at all Angel, it's just that…'

'If the police find us they'll take us back to the bad place' interrupted Nudge. I gave her a warning glace.

'The bad place?' questioned Daichii with a frown.

'Yeah…the bad place' Nudge repeated softly. By now both Emiko and Daichii looked confused and it seemed to occur to them that they weren't going to get anything solid out of us. Daichii sighed giving up.

'Well, what do you plan on doing about it, looking for him yourselves?'

'Yeah' I replied

'Well, if that's the case, what do you plan on doing if you don't find him?'

I was feeling a bit uncomfortable of what I was going to ask for next.

'Um…well if it's ok with you…if we don't find him today…could we stay here again? If it's too much trouble we can find somewhere else'

Daichii smiled 'it's alright with me, Emiko?'

'No problem at all! I'd love for you to stay, and I could never throw out a group of kids who are so kawaiiiiii!'

We should have expected something like that to come from Emiko, but we still cringed at the high pitch squeal. This is a time when you don't want super sensitive mutant hearing, it probably was a lot worse for Iggy.

'What does kawaii mean?' asked Angel innocently

'Down right adorable!' squealed Emiko.

'I'm not adorable' pouted Gassy

'Oooooooooooh that's so kawaiiiiiiiii!!' squealed Emiko placing her hands on either side of her face.

'Gassy stop making it worse, my ears can't take it' Iggy hissed. Gassy just smirked.

Daichii coughed loudly getting everyone's attention 'Getting back on the subject, my advice to you is to search the area you last saw him and if he isn't there, we'll start searching the rest of the town once Daisuke comes back from school, he more or less knows every nook and cranny in this place'

'Sounds reasonable' agreed Emiko 'do you know how to get there from here?'

'Ummm…no' I said and everyone else gave a negative response. 'I just know it was a park area with lots of trees'

'Hmmm well we have a few of those around here; usually they have a monument of some sort. Did you notice any?'

To be honest I didn't pay any attention to details like that.

'There were some wind mills nearby' said Nudge with a thoughtful look.

'Oh! I know which one then! I'll take you there and we can look for your friend'

'Let's go then!' said Gassy standing up. We all stood up and headed out the door.

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**Again authors comment block**

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	5. Chapter 5

**YAY!! My first review! Thank you Mayu-Jun! I still have a lot more to upload so more is on the way!**

* * *

Daisuke sighed as he walked down the corridor to his last lesson of the day. Riku and Risa were walking besides him arguing among themselves, mostly about Dark. Daisuke was thinking back to this morning, during form time and thought it was quite odd.

As soon as he had rushed into the room, slightly late as usual he found that just about everyone was huddled around Saehara's desk. A lot of the students had worried looks on their faces and were sharing their worries with each other. Daisuke mingled among the crowd trying to get to Saehara to ask what was going on but someone beat him to it.

'Takeshi what is going on? What have the police found out?'

Here we go, thought Daisuke. Saehara split into a large grin and went into gossip mode.

'As some of you know there was a pretty big disturbance down at the Sakura Park near the cliffs. Local residence claimed to have seen bright lights and had heard shouting and a large explosion. When the police got there, the place was completely disserted. The area was pretty damaged, there are several trees that had been blown away from there branches so the police have figured that the bomb was set up in the tree tops but there seemed to be no evidence that anyone had been there. The police have taken into consideration that it may be the work of terrorists…'

At this most of the girls were starting to panic and some of the guy's took the opportunity to try and comfort them in hopes of hitting off with them.

'…but what is confusing the police the most is that there has been a mysterious attack not to far from the bomb site.' The girls gasped and Saehara continued 'one of the wind turbines was found completely melted and the woodland area around it was completely messed up. Some of the trees have massive holes in them, like they had been hit with tiny missiles and there is some strong evidence at the site that leads the police to believe that Dark was involved…' this got everyone talking and Daisuke was a little shocked. 'That's not true!' he thought, he and Dark were nowhere near that area last night, '…found at the crime scene were a few splatters of blood…and scattered around it, were black feathers…' There was more chatter among the girls and even the guys were confused.

'But it couldn't have been him!' one of them said 'Dark was stealing the 'Angels Voice' at that time, even someone as cool as him can't be in two places at once.'

'I wouldn't put it past him' one of the guy's replied 'remember when he went to steal that artefact in the under water temple? Police saw him flying in the sky and then spotted him underwater not moments later!'

'Whether he was there or not' continued Saehara 'the blood is yet to be identified, Forensics are not going to jump to conclusions that it _is_ Darks until they have identified the DNA from the blood and the feathers. Also, the police find the circumstances of the site suspicious, the power of the weapon used was extreme, the damage the weapon caused really shouldn't have been very silent at all and yet those witnesses who heard the explosion in the park claim that they heard only one explosion.'

Now everyone was completely hooked to the story and were leaning in to not miss anything.

'The police have no idea who could be behind this or what their intentions are' Said Saehara seriously '…they can only guess that the group or individual that used such weaponry are technology advanced…my theory is…that we are being invaded by aliens!'

Everyone sweat dropped, trust Saehara to come up with something as outlandish as that. Then Riku, none to gently, hit him on the head causing him to yelp and cradle his head in his hands.

'You baka! I don't know what got into your head when you decided you wanted to be a _professional_ reporter!' she scolded.

'I just said what everyone else is thinking!' Saehara defended 'Everyone else was just too scared to say it'

'Baka!' and he got another hit on the head.

The bell rang and everyone filed out to first lesson, Daisuke waited with Saehara as he nursed his head.

'Damn, sometimes I wish that Riku would be more like her sister, but then again if she was I would have to work harder to get more pictures because then you would have a crush on both twins!' Saehara laughed.

'Saehara!'

'Eh, you shouldn't take me so seriously Daisuke! But I still have some really good pictures of Risa if you want them!'

'That's your problem though isn't it, Saehara?' said a cold voice.

Daisuke and Saehara only just realised that Satoshi was still seated behind his desk, head resting on his hands with his fingers entwined with his gaze focused at the chair in front of him.

'Apart from Niwa-kun, nobody takes you seriously'

There was an awkward silence before Saehara broke it.

'Well, best be going or we'll be late for class, see ya!' he ran out the room, not even bothering to wait for Daisuke, and he was left alone with a spaced Satoshi.

'You know, Saehara wouldn't be Saehara if everyone took him seriously' Daisuke laughed nervously. Satoshi showed no notion that he had heard and continued to stare intensely at nothing.

'Hiwatari-kun?'

Satoshi was brought out of his daze and found a concerned Daisuke standing not to far away from him.

'Are you alright Hiwatari-kun?' he asked worriedly. Satoshi blinked then dragged his gaze away from the red heads. He didn't know why but Satoshi's indifferent mask always seems to crumble if he looked Daisuke in the face.

'I'm fine' he said coldly.

Daisuke wasn't sure if Satoshi was lying or not, his cold attitude is still there so he must be ok.

'Are you…um, troubled by these incidents?' asked Daisuke. Satoshi cocked an eyebrow questionably.

'It's just that you're a bit spaced out is all'

'Something interesting has just popped up but you needn't worry yourself about it' said Satoshi, rising out of his chair, 'we should get to class'

Since then Daisuke, has had an uneasy feeling and it hasn't dwindled at all during the rest of the day.

'_You worry too much Daisuke'_ came the confident voice of his other half_ 'if the wind changes direction, you're going to be stuck with that frown on your face for the rest of your life!'_

'Dark! I'm not in the mood!'

'_You might not be, but I am'_ Dark chuckled _'when do I get to have my free time?'_

'When I feel like it'

'Daisuke!'

'Huh?' Daisuke was pulled out of his thoughts by the twins.

'Geez you sure do space out a lot' Riku complained 'we just asked you if you wanted to walk home with us later'

'Oh! Sure! I'd love to!' Daisuke replied awkwardly.

'Hey Niwa-kun? The next time Dark goes out to steal something, would you come with me?' asked Risa excitedly.

Daisuke felt his heart constrict but he put on a smile for her. But before he could say anything Riku butted in.

'Don't be so selfish Risa, I'm sure Niwa-kun doesn't want to go out just to see that pervert, why can't you go by yourself'

'Because! If Niwa-kun is there, Dark might think that I am going out with him and get jealous and try to win me back!'

'That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard. He's a no good thief for crying out loud, he's not going to fall for that!'

The twins continued to bicker and Daisuke looked upon them sadly. Risa is still falling head over heels for Dark and he can't help but feel jealous. Dark is everything that he isn't, he's tall, witty, hot, sexy and has the knowledge of how to win a girls heart with words.

'_You shouldn't get yourself down Daisuke, you haven't finished growing yet so you never know, you might grow to become the hottest guy on earth'_ said Dark, interrupting his thoughts. _'What your problem is, is that you're way to shy, you need to build up some more confidence'_

'Oh so it's after you steal Risa away that you give me advice on how to get girls' said Daisuke grumpily.

'_I never stole her, she gave herself away'_ countered Dark _'besides it's not my fault that I'm tall, witty, hot, sexy and can win a girl with words'_ Dark teased Daisuke, quoting from his previous thoughts.

'Dark. Go away'

'_Awww Daisuke! And here I thought you were confessing that you liked me!'_ Dark laughed.

Daisuke sputtered mentally and physically causing the twins to give him funny looks and Dark to laugh hysterically.

'THAT'S NOT FUNNY DARK!' Daisuke screamed mentally, but to his dismay Dark laughed harder. He sighed and went to class.

Afterwards as promised, Daisuke walked home with the twins, thankfully managing to avoid the subject of Dark and they parted ways after the train ride. Getting home Daisuke announced his presence and got no response. Suddenly Daisuke thought 'oh no they haven't set up the traps have they? And we have guests here! What are they gonna think?' Daisuke took a careful step forward, nothing happened. He took another careful step as a precaution, nothing happened. Daisuke relaxed, relieved and thought perhaps they didn't hear him. He was about to take another step when he noticed that there were mirrors all along the walls, suddenly lasers shot out and began reflecting and bouncing from the mirrors. Lightning fast, crisscrossing and obstructing his path, Daisuke was thinking 'You have got to be kidding me?' Daisuke rummaged through his bag and grabbed a spare pencil. He then threw it in among the lasers which one managed to hit and completely vaporise it. Daisuke stared terrified, 'HOW THE HELL AM I SURPOSED TO GET THROUGH THIS ALIVE?!' Daisuke quickly summarised the situation, there were four lasers that were released and now there was three thanks to the sacrifice of his pencil, he watched each of the lasers and realised that they move in a continuous cycle. If he could time his sprint right he could just make it. He got into a sprint start position and when he thought it was the right time he took off. He got past the first one unscathed but it was still a close call as it just missed his leg, the second he also passed but the tips of his hair weren't so lucky. Finally the third just caught the end of his sleeve, missing his skin by millimetres. It had left a huge burn hole and Daisuke felt as though he had just placed his arm against a hot stove but at least he got through it alive. That seemed to be the only trap and Daisuke was glad because he wanted to use the rest of his energy to give his mother a real talking to. He opened the living room door and found his mother, grandpa and Max's group sitting quite comfortably on the sofa and futons.

'Ah Daisuke! Perfect score again! I know you've just come back from school but I need you to…help?…'

Emiko stopped speaking after fully taking in Daisuke's expression and appearance. The tips of Daisuke's hair were smoking and his shirt sleeve had a huge burn in it. But what really left her shocked was the murderous look on Daisuke's face. A look she never thought her son possessed and it was actually quite scary, his red eyes and hair gave him the impression of a demon. Emiko was rather scared of this change in character especially when his anger was directed at her.

'I'm going to go change, then I'll be back' said Daisuke emotionlessly, closing the door.

To Emiko it sounded more of a threat than a statement.

'I think you over did it this time Emiko' Daichii observed.

Max and the gang thought it would be wise to stay out of this conflict and remain silent.

When Daisuke returned, he had a sleeveless top on and some jeans and he had bandaged his burnt arm. Emiko shrank into her seat and watched Daisuke warily as he sat down. He ignored his mother and turned to Max and company, at this they tensed not really sure what to expect.

'I'm sorry you had to see me like that' Iggy snorted 'or hear me in your case, what was it you wanted me for?' he said turning to his mother. She composed herself seeing that Daisuke was more or less back to normal. She nodded her head and looked to Max.

'Well, you see Daisuke, we lost one of our own last night and we have no idea where he is. Your mum and grandpa told us that you know everywhere of this town so, what we are asking is, would you take us around town and help look for him?'

'One of you is missing?!' Daisuke said shocked.

'Today we tried looking in the area where we saw him last, but the area has been completely sealed off because of a bomb' Daisuke looked surprised and being the oblivious person he is, he failed to notice the tiny smirks that formed on Gassy and Iggy's lips 'we figured that he wouldn't be there, so will you help?'

'A bomb you say?' Daisuke asked frowning.

'Is something the matter Daisuke?' Emiko asked.

'Well, it's just that Saehara told us about this incident this morning and that there was not just one bomb involved'

'What? What do you mean?' asked Max anxiously.

Daisuke repeated what he had heard and as expected, Emiko and Daichii were confused and a little worried, but what wasn't expected, was that Max and co looked like they were on the verge of a major panic attack.

'This is rather unexpected but I'm pretty sure that Dark wasn't involved' said Daichii, looking to Daisuke expectantly, who shook his head.

'Who is this Dark' asked Nudge. Emiko brightened at the mentioning of her favourite phantom thief.

'Dark is the mysterious phantom thief who owns the skies of this town, he steals the artwork of the Hikari family and leaves notices to the police before he steals the work. He's an absolute legend! But he is very real' she said dramatically

'What do you mean by he owns the skies? Does he drop in by helicopter or something?' asked Iggy.

Emiko looked like she was going to faint by such an insult to the great thief. So Daisuke explained.

'No, Dark gets to and from his destination on a pair of black wings'

The whole of Max's group seemed to be beyond shocked, even Iggy's eyes were wide as saucers.

'_Ha ha ha ha ha ha, they all look like gold fish'_ Dark chuckled

'Shut up Dark'

'_If they are like this just hearing about me, then I'__d love to see their faces when they see me for real'_

'I said shut up'

'_Fine, fine__, you really are no fun Daisuke'_ and with that Dark cut the connection.

Daisuke came back to reality noticing that the group had somewhat recovered, except Angel, who was looking at Daisuke with a bemused expression, which in Daisuke's opinion was rather cute.

'Shall we look in the residents nearby to where you last saw him and go from there?' suggested Daisuke.

'Sounds like a plan'

They all got up except Emiko and Daichii and headed towards the door. Emiko told them to come back as soon as it starts getting dark and that she will have dinner ready by the time they get back. Daisuke was last to the door and before he closed it he turned to his mother.

'I haven't forgotten about the lasers mom' scary Daisuke was back 'you and me will be having a serious talk when I get back'

* * *

Fang was seriously bored, he had explored the entire mansion and some of it with Satoshi that morning, but once he had found that there are well over 20 rooms and none of them had any guns or weaponry despite Satoshi and his bastard father being high ranks in the police force, he was somewhat disappointed.

Fang had retreated to Satoshi's room and had taken over his computer, browsing the internet and adding to his blog for the last 2 hours. He had looked for any blogs or myspace on Satoshi but it seemed he didn't have one. What he did find though was a biography page somewhere as though he was a celebrity or something but he was annoyed to find that it was all written in Japanese symbols. Fang glared at the screen as though trying to scare the thing to translate it for him, and then it occurred to him that he could use an online translator. He copied the first line of text/symbols and pasted it into the translation box, but came up made no sense at all, it was something like.

**Sa go in fre dad po can be py the ve **

Fang stared at it confused, could it have translated the sounds rather than the words? But there were some short English words there. Maybe the thing was coded. Fang scrolled down the screen as if some part of it further down would make more sense. Fang froze as a weird sensation over took him, he suddenly found himself very tired and a headache was forming behind his eyes. He shook his head trying to clear it but no anvil. Before he knew it, his head had hit the keyboard and his body had shut down. His mind however was wide awake and was showing all these images and sounds that he didn't understand. He felt as though he was falling and the deeper he fell the worse it got, the imaging, he now realised, were written words and symbols, and they were appearing faster and larger as though they were shouting at him. Correction, they were. The sounds were speech of some sort and it was getting louder and faster as well until it was like chipmunk speech. Fangs head hurt and tried his best to block it all out but it was no use. He didn't know how long it lasted. But he was relieved that he eventually lost awareness and willingly allowed darkness to take him.

Shortly after Fang passed out, he woke up again, no longer tired and no sign that the headache had occurred. He moved the mouse to get the monitor off the screen saver and looked to the digital clock in the corner of the screen and it read 14:34, that's roughly 2:30pm. He had been asleep for 10 minutes. Was that similar to one of Max's head attacks? Fang pondered. He thought it would be best to get off the computer, incase it triggered off another weird migraine. He took one last glace at the screen and was just about to hit the close button when he was surprised to find that he could read the symbols. It was now he realised that it was no wonder the translator didn't work, the text was written to be read from top to bottom, not left to right. Oh awesome! Fang had just got a new power! To be honest, Fang was quite envious of everyone because they had they're own unique abilities and he had nothing except his personality. Max has a voice in her head and can reach flying speeds up to 200miles per hour, Iggy has exceptional hearing, has fairly good medical skills and can open a locked door in less that 30 seconds, Nudge can feel the emotions and recent events around an object by touching it, Gassy has a killer digestive system and can imitate any voice he hears and lastly Angel is telepathic so she can read and influence the minds of other people and she can breath underwater and talk to fish. And now, he can read Japanese, well isn't that useful. Fang was curious about his new gift and wondered if it was just restricted to Japanese. He quickly read over Satoshi's profile and found nothing really interesting or stuff he didn't already know, apart from he has already graduated from University. He went onto the Wikipedia homepage and selected one of the languages besides English. He smiled as he understood every word written in French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, Polish and every other language he could find. 'This would have been so useful if this gift had popped up before we set to travel the world,' Fang thought. Just to see how much he could understand, he looked around for a film clip of some sort and found a news clip in Italian. He let it play and listened to what the reporter said and was ecstatic to find that he understand it when it was spoken as well. Now the only thing that would make him the perfect linguist is if he can speak the languages too. He would try that later when Satoshi comes back.

Fang felt that he needed some fresh air and went out side into the gardens. Personally, he thought it was the only good feature of the place; the décor of the mansion was rather dull and had all these different pieces of artwork hanging on the walls and standing at the ends of corridors. He felt he was staying in an art gallery rather than a mansion. In the centre of the garden was a large tree with pink blossoms, he sat beneath it to get out of the sun and examined his wing. It was still a little tender but it was no longer bleeding and he was able to move and flex the joints with minimal pain. There was a bald patch where he was hit and he could see the skin beneath with a little dried blood. It was healing nicely, by tomorrow he should be fit for flying and hopefully his feathers will grow back. He folded his wings so they were hidden under his top then leaned back against the trunk.

'Max…are you looking for me?' Fang couldn't help but feel lonely, even though they had only been separated for a day, he missed the flock, especially Max. He closed his eyes and dosed off, dreaming he was flying with a certain blonde bird girl.

* * *

**Dun DUN DUUUUN! Evil Daisuke has emerged! After all those traps he's had to deal with, I thought it's time that Daisuke fought back!...in an unviolent way of course.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Just a little tears warning for this chapter, Fang fans best have tissues ready.**

* * *

The night before in his office, Kei Hiatari was looking at some papers and was deep in thought. He was pretty sure that Krad's new pet wasn't some magic from a Hikari artwork, and he was right. The papers he was looking at confirmed it all.

**Name: Fang**

**Age: 14**

**Height: 5'9**

**Weight: 65kg**

**Blood type: Avian human mix**

**Physical description: Dark/black hair, black eyes, pale skin, well built, black wings.**

**Lifespan: n/a**

**Power(s): n/a**

**Fang is the alpha male of the flock but lets the alpha female (Max) take charge. He has been known to have leader skills when necessary, for example, when the flock split 2 months ago after a disagreement between the two alphas. He is the strongest fighter and has received the most injuries compared to the rest of the flock. Fang has a strong protective instinct, especially for the alpha female. There is a strong possibility he may see her as a suitable mate.**

There was similar information on these other kids of this flock and it was the only information he could get hold of. His 'source of help' said that everything else was strongly protected and it would take him a few more days to break through. Kei frowned at this, these kids or mutants were obviously some illegal scientific experiments and as head of this police department it's his responsibility to find and retain them. Yes, find, retain and control, Kei thought. If this kid was here then there's a probability that the others are too and until he knew more about this, he would keep this quiet to the more unintelligent of his subordinates a.k.a St. Saehara. These _powers _could be useful if they were under his control, this could finally be the chance to have the upper hand on Dark. Kei smiled unpleasantly.

The next day, he had met this unique individual and his impression of him was, intriguing. The boy looked a lot like Dark but the boy's personality was darker than Dark's name. Hmm maybe the two should switch titles. Kei played his little act and was growing ever more curious of the exotic youth as he could undeniably see that he wasn't fooled. Very intelligent, Kei perceived and loyal too, as he hadn't spoken a word when he inquired about his family.

Shortly after he left, and hoped there would be more information on his desk when he got back to the office. There was, and not entirely what he expected. Itex, where had he heard that name before? So it was this company that made them but why would a detergent company have to do with this? Kei looked at the next page of information and his eyes widened at the spread of just how much this company owned. They practically had everything from paper manufacture to full blown military weaponry. They owned everything…the list went on for three more pages before Kei gave up. This Itex…owned the world. Kei couldn't believe the extent of power this single company had, how the hell was this possible? Did everyone just turn a blind eye to this?! How is it that no one knows about this? Could it be…that this company has secretly been taking over the world and no one knows about until something slips…that boy, he and those other mutant freaks are the key to all this. Kei forced himself to calm down, it had hit him hard that there just might be something more in control than himself…and had more power. Not even the power of the Hikari works put together could compare to this! He didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit. No doubt Itex will come looking for these mutants, but if he could get to them first, then Itex would be at his mercy and he would be in control. He didn't care for the reason those freaks were made, all that mattered was he had to get them into his custody without causing an uproar. That means he will have to deploy the secret squad team to find them, if push come to shove if they don't come quietly, then he will have Krad deal with them.

Kei decided to leave early today, checking his watch he has at least half an hour before Satoshi gets home. That gives him plenty of time alone with Fang to get some information out of him. He enters the Hiwatari grounds in his black limo and asks one of his servants where he can find Fang. In the gardens? Kei didn't see Fang as the flower loving type, perhaps he's vandalised them. Kei strolled through the lawns, happy to see that there wasn't an uplifted plant in sight. He went through the small maze of finely trimmed hedges and went to the centre which consisted of a large circle of lawn with a single Sakura tree, extensively brought here from Japan, as was the trees in the Sakura Park, and a small fountain that made up a bird bath. Lying beneath the tree was Fang, peacefully asleep. Kei almost didn't want to disturb the boy, almost. He approached him quietly; the soft grass muffled his polished loafers with each step and as he got closer, Fang stirred. The innocent, carefree expression was gone and in a flash, replaced with a cautious, hateful glare. Fang had sat up right; his body was as tense as a coiled spring and looked like at any moment he would take of in the opposite direction. Kei stopped 10ft away from him, a safe distance for himself and enough to give Fang some space. Kei smiled at him.

'Do you like the blossoms? They are particularly beautiful this year…'

'Don't speak to me with that façade. In fact don't talk to me at all' said Fang emotionlessly.

Kei wasn't at all put off by Fangs rude attitude; he gets it all the time with his own son. But he did as requested and dropped the friendly act and revealed an arrogant smirk.

'You're quite sharp for someone your age, but of course, you're a mutant so it is hardly surprising' Fang glared dangerously at him but stood unfazed and casually pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose. 'I am willing to make a deal with you Fang, I'll see to it that you and your friends are unharmed and out of the clutches of Itex and you will give me the information I want and do a few tasks for me.'

Fang sneered in dislike, everyone always wants to use the flock for some means, whether it is to die, experiment on or given missions like saving the world. Fang stood up, ready to get away from this guy as quickly as possible.

'How about, you stay the hell away from me and my flock and go back to your day job and forget about us. Even if you aren't with Itex, if you mess with us you are asking for a hell of a lot of trouble.' Fang replied.

'We can do this the easy way or the hard way Fang' Kei said threateningly

'I prefer to do things my way'

Fang ran for it, navigating the maze quickly and sprinting faster than the average human. He had reached the front of the mansion and was running down the drive and planning to get out through the front gate. He knows it will be locked but with his run up he could jump over it. He was just about to hit the distance when he could jump when a numbing pain spread throughout his entire body and was particularly bad in his arms and legs. He cried out and collapsed onto the ground. Breathing hard he tried to get up but found that both his legs and arms refused to move. 'What the hell is going on?!' Fang mentally screamed. It was a few minutes before he could move but he was still terribly weak and could barely hold himself up to get his face out the gravel. A shadow loomed over him and Fang turn his head painfully to meet the satisfied smirk of Kei.

'My, my, you are really undisciplined and I thought you were smarter than this. Did you really think that I would let you wonder around unless I had a tight leash on you? May this be a lesson to you Fang, I am one of those people who are used to getting their way and I don't plan on breaking the habit. What you are experiencing is basically very severe cramp, there is a drug in your blood stream that makes it hard for your body to absorb oxygen when under strenuous exercise, because of that, your body has to perform aerobic respiration to get the energy needed. Do you understand what I mean by that?'

Kei was enjoying the helpless situation Fang was in; having power over something is a feeling that he found wickedly satisfying. Fang could do nothing but lie in the dirt and listen to Kei's cruel words.

'It means that if you try to escape, by either running or flying, you won't get very far at all. My mansion has the highest security system around; you won't even be able to sneeze without me knowing about it so if you try anything funny like walking out in the middle of the night, my security will be on you before you take ten paces. Are you starting to understand the predicament that you're in now? The drug is now firmly in your system, not even your genetically enhanced body can flush it out unless you get an antidote which only I possess. You can only blame yourself, for it was you who decided to do things the hard way'

Kei withdrew a phone from his pocket and flipped it open. Pressing a single button and placing next to his ear and spoke in Japanese. Unknown to Kei, Fang understood every word, although he was starting to wonder why he wasn't speaking Italian since this was Italy, wasn't it?

'My guest seems to be in a state of paralysis, please move him from the driveway and secure him in the _special_ room.'

Fang didn't like the sound of that. Kei flipped the phone shut and placed it back in his pocket. Fang desperately tried to move only to succeed in losing the support of his arms and collapsing back to the floor, making him seem more helpless than he already was. A pair of strong hands lifted him up and he was flung over someone's shoulder. Fang shouted in defiance but the man took no notice and took him inside and down a concrete stairway. At the end of it was a thick old wooden door with several metal bolts and locks. Fang wished he had the energy to knock this guy out; there was no way he wanted to go in there and he had a really bad feeling about it. He was already a little panicky about being in a long narrow passageway as claustrophobia over took him. The door creaked open and Fang did not like what he saw inside. In the middle of the room was a modern operation table but the bizarre thing about it was it was in the shape of a Christian cross. He was placed upon it and strapped tightly to it, his arms lain straight with his wrists restrained, he looked like he was about to be crucified. He noticed that the rest of the room was empty; it was simply a large sized square room with plain white walls and bright, blinding lights. The guy who carried him there, didn't say anything and left. 'Obviously not the talkative type' Fang thought sarcastically. Fang didn't know how long he was tied there but he was glad that his hands and fingers now worked properly without going through a painful spasm, he couldn't really test anything else. He was starting to wonder if this was another of Kei's torture ideas, unable to move and nothing to look at, oh yes he plans on getting information by boring him to death. Annoyed, Fang tried pulling on his binds and found that his body worked fine but there was no way he could break free. He heard footsteps and voices echoing outside the door, with his super hearing he guessed they had just entered the passageway, as they got closer he identified the voices to belong to Kei and Satoshi.

Satoshi was annoyed and suspicious when his father came to great him when he got home. Kei requested for him to come with him and Satoshi was not in a place to argue. He followed his father down the steps to the medical room, which Satoshi's father had installed for reasons Satoshi did not want to reminisce. With as minimal respect that his father deemed acceptable Satoshi questioned him why they were going down here. His only reply was to be patient. Satoshi could only come up with few reasons why they were going down here, and he hoped the worst case scenario was not going to take place. When the door opened, his dreaded thought had been realised.

'What the hell are you planning?!' Satoshi said angrily, throwing respect out the window.

'You needn't know yet, and calm down; we're just here to interrogate him for now'

'I know very well what your interrogation methods are' Satoshi growled and Kei just smirked knowingly.

'Indeed, but this is a special case, I think we will be needing more than the usual way'

Fang could only watch this conversation from the corner of his eye; again he could understand every word they said. He remained silent.

'Special case? What does that mean?' Satoshi asked confused. Kei's smirk got wider.

'I want Krad to interrogate him'

Satoshi eye's widened in horror and Fang's slightly narrowed. As if on cue, Krad's voice entered Satoshi's head.

'_That's right my little Satoshi, this game is too big for you so why don't you let me out and let us grown ups play?'_ he laughed manically.

A familiar pain spread along Satoshi's chest and back, he clutched at his heart as if hoping it could dull the pain. It never did.

'Krad! Damn it!' Satoshi collapsed to his knees and used one hand to support him.

'_Resistance is futile, you're only going to hurt yourself more and you know it. But if it makes you fell any better, I promise I won't kill the boy, but depending on how much he resists, I can't promise I won't leave a mark'_ Krad taunted _'If he's anything like you, he's gonna hurt a lot!'_

Fang watched this scene fearfully, not for himself but for Satoshi. It seemed to him that Kei used a forbidden word on him and now he's having a break down because of it. Fang was really confused though, if Kei wanted this Krad to interrogate him then why did he bring Satoshi and not him? Did he do it just to make his son tremble like that? Suddenly Satoshi threw his head back and screamed. Doubling over he whimpered in pain. Fang manage to turn his head slightly to get a better view of what was happening and he watched shocked as something moved underneath his shirt. Fang was even more shocked when that something was a pair of white wings that ripped through his shirt and pulled free from his back. White feathers flew everywhere, obscuring Fangs vision but when they settled Fang could not believe his eyes. Where Satoshi was cowering on the floor a minute ago stood Krad wearing his white outfit and arrogant smirk.

'No bloody way. Satoshi…you're Krad!' Fang gaped.

Krad drew his attention to the dark teenager bound to the table and smiled cruelly, showing his sharp canines. Drawing close so he towered over him he placed a gloved hand against his cheek and brought his face close to Fangs, causing Fang to grimace.

'Hello Fang, did you miss me?' He breathed, smirking.

'Only in your dreams, Rapunzel' Fang spat, making Krad frown.

'Who or what is Rapunzel?' Krad drew away calmly and turned to Kei.

'Rapunzel is a princess from a fairytale, in the story she throws her hair out the window so her prince can climb up' he explained while adjusting his glasses.

'I see' suddenly there was a loud slap as Krad smacked Fang across the face, forcing his head to turn and got burnt from the strap holding his neck down. Fang hissed through his teeth and forced himself to turn his head back to glare at Krad.

'Don't like that name eh? Well here's a better one, how about Goldilocks…' this time he was backhanded in the face, harder this time. But Fang didn't show pain despite the red marks forming on both cheeks.

'Oh did you know who that was this time?' no slap came but Krad again brought his head extremely close to Fangs, too close for comfort. Krad's eyes were narrowed and menacing, his golden orbs seemed to glow dimly from the reflected light and being this close, Fang could see that Krad's pupils were slits, like a cats. No…not a cat, a snake.

'Have you any idea of how much I can make you suffer? I can see that you're no stranger to physical pain…' Krad brought a clean, white feather between the short distance between their faces, 'but what if I was to summon your worst nightmares from the depth of your mind and leave you in this small room with nothing but them for company?' Krad said lowly, his deep voice almost a growl.

'Or he could summon the worst fears of your friends and you can watch them suffer' Kei put in.

Fangs eyes widened and then narrowed dangerously as anger consumed him. He was shaking in his restraints and he gritted his teeth.

'If you even go near them…' Fang growled.

'You'll do what?' Krad sneered at him, enjoying Fang's torment. Fang couldn't reply.

'Listen very carefully Fang, you tell me what I want to know and I won't harm your mutant friends, but refuse to cooperate, you'll just be hurting them and yourself. Eventually they will all be in my care, just like you' said Kei, smirking.

'What exactly do you want to know?' Fang asked cautiously. Kei perked up at the progress they were making.

'I want to know everything you know about this Itex and the reason you were made.'

Fang wasn't expecting that, not that many people know about the existence of Itex even though its label is everywhere. He was expecting 'What the hell are you? Where'd you come from? Are you carbon or silicon based?' or something more or less along those lines.

'If I answer these questions, what do you plan to do with me?'

'You will be free to wonder the house hold again, but no further than that'

'So I'll still be a prisoner here?'

'If that is the way you see it, now…answer the question'

Fang sighed and muttered 'you tell…you die, you know…you die'

'What!?' Kei exclaimed. Is he trying to confuse us with riddles?

'I'm already being hunted for existing and holding the knowledge you want. You're gonna be on their hit list too as soon as I tell you' Fang warned.

Kei huffed, 'They won't even know, we are very secure here'

'Not secure enough, they know, they always know, they probably know I'm in this building right now'

'Enough stalling young man, you either start talking or pain is going to be your constant companion' Kei threatened, Krad's smirk grew with the thought of finally having some fun if the boy's next words were nothing but drabble. Fang gave Kei a hard stare and he closed his eyes exhaling an exasperated breath.

'We were born from human mothers, but taken away from them by selling us off or the lab coats saying that we had died…' Fang said emotionlessly, 'our DNA was altered while we were still embryos so we are 2 bird and 98 human. Then we were sent to the school where we grew up in dog creates and were experimented on daily…the reason we were created, is to survive, or so we were told…' Fang eventually told him about the other mutants called erasers and told him about the main aim of Itex. But he didn't go into detail about the flock individually or the situations they were put in. No, he could have all the info he wants on Itex, hopefully he could get out of there when Itex storms this place to take him down, which will undeniably happen, but the less he knew about him and the flock, the better. Once he had run out of things to say he became silent. Kei had his hand on his chin thoughtfully and Krad looked bored, not seeming to care.

'This is very interesting, very interesting indeed' Kei said switching to Japanese.

'What was so interesting about it? It sounded like some fake drama to me, if I knew it was going to be this boring I would have left Satoshi to deal with it' Krad complained.

'Fang is somewhat friends with him, which is strange for him after only one day, but he wouldn't get the information like you can'

'That's all very well, but I was hoping for at least some resistance so I could torture him, this has been a real waste of time for me'

'The sadist as always, but even so, I have all the information I want now, it's all a matter of getting the rest of them now, you can have your fun with them then…'

'You promised they wouldn't be harmed!' Fang said sternly realising too late of his mistake, and surprised of the foreign words that came easily from his mouth. Kei and Krad turned to him shocked.

'I thought you said he didn't understand Japanese'

'He didn't. Unless he was pretending, but if he did understand he would've definitely have said something when I attacked him'

'So how did he learn so quickly…unless' Kei stared at Fang, 'is this one of these special _powers_ that you're supposed to have'

'He has magic!? Why didn't you tell me this!?' Krad demanded.

'It's not magic, it's more like enhanced abilities. I've read from the files that they are programmed into them' Kei continued to stare at Fang, 'your file didn't mention any abilities, what else are you hiding?'

'Nothing'

'Oh my, well it looks like you'll be having your fun after all Krad, I'll leave you to it but please don't permanently damage him' said Kei turning his back and left the room, leaving Fang alone with Krad.

Krad grinned displaying his white rows of teeth. The feather glowed in his hand and Fang was plunged into darkness.

This isn't real…

Fang looked around him it was black everywhere, he was free from his restraints and he tried to run, he felt light like he wasn't physically there.

This isn't real it's all in your mind, wake up Fang.

He forced himself onward trying to find an escape from this void of black; he was alone, completely alone.

Don't panic! It isn't real! Wake up!

Suddenly there were bars around him, they pushed him down forcing him to his knees and they continued to shrink until there was no room to move, he was trapped behind bars…again.

NO! This cannot be happening! Snap out of it!

He could feel the claustrophobia claiming a grip on his mind, he tried to move, he had to move! He had to break free so he could spread his wings once more, he will not be grounded like this, he had to protect the flock, he had to protect Max.

'Fang…'

Fang looked up, peering through the bars. His eyes widened and his whole body shook with fear.

'Fang…?'

Max was there, Max was right there! She was lying on the floor reaching out to him, she had blood running down her beautiful face and she was crying. Fang tried to reach her, squeezing his arm through the bars, their finger tips were a finger width apart.

'Max…' his voice had gone; it came out no more than a small gasp.

'Fang…why…? Her voice was weak and choked up with tears, blood was pooling all around her from a wound that Fang couldn't see, soaking into her clothes and wings, dying them a deadly crimson.

'Why did you leave me Fang? You…you promised you would stay with me…why…?'

Fang wanted to say something but his throat was dry, in his mind he was screaming, No MAX! I wouldn't! Never! He tried desperately to close the distance but her hand was lowering, further from his reach. NO! MAX!

'Why did you leave me…to die?'

Fang froze…die? Max…is going to die? He tried once more to speak but nothing but a croaked cry came out. Max's eyes glazed over, her once blue shining eyes were now dull and lifeless. Her head hit the ground and her wings sagged, then she moved no more. Fang was in shock, he couldn't move, he couldn't breath, his arm was still locked out, still reaching for her. Tears slowly flowed to the corner of his eyes and without blinking rolled down his cheeks, he was unaware of them, he was unaware of anything except the lifeless girl that he had let down. He let her down, he couldn't save her, he left her alone, why wasn't he there! Unexpectedly a strong breeze blew from behind him, chilling him to the bone and freezing the tears on his cheeks. Max's hair and wing feathers were ruffled by the wind and Fang could see her pale face in a sorrowful expression. That was the last thing he saw before her body completely turned to feathers and blew away, scattering through the air and out of sight. Fangs chest felt he was being crushed, he couldn't breathe properly and tears were running uncontrollably down his face. She was gone, she was truly gone. Fang completely broke down, he cried, he cried like he had never cried before. There was nothing for him now, she was the light in his life, and now he was alone, trapped in this dark abyss. Finally he screamed, it hurt his throat but he didn't care, all his feelings were exposed in one word.

'MAAAAAAAAAAAX!'

Back in the room Krad smiled, content as he watched the semi-conscious boy as tears rolled down from his closed lids…so, this boy did know how to cry…

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**Almost made me cry writing that. Review please.**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Woooo Hooooo I'm getting more reviews and I've been put on favs as well! I've only put this story up two days ago, I'm so glad that so many people like it. I am soooo Happy!! Here's chap 7 ENJOY!**

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Daisuke lay awake in his bed, unable to sleep. He was worried about the kids downstairs who were really determined to find their friend, they worked really quickly at searching the areas he lead them to. They had searched at least a quarter of the town and they searched the beach when one of the kids wanted to swim, they found no trace of him. Daisuke really wanted to help too, but Max told him that he was like them, not very friendly towards strangers. Daisuke took the hint but he still thought it was a bit strange, in reality Max didn't want him looking incase Fang had his wings out when they find him…if they find him, but Daisuke wasn't to know that. Not only that but the smallest of the group Angel, was giving him weird looks now and again.

'_You really should be getting some sleep Daisuke'_ Dark advised.

'I can't' Daisuke stated plainly. Dark sighed.

'_I'll admit that things have gone a bit astray, maybe this is what that feeling you had was building up to, but there's no point losing sleep over it, you have school tomorrow and then you're going to try and find that boy again later'_

'But I can't help but worry, I know I haven't even met this guy yet but he is in a unfamiliar town and he's been separated from his friends, I can't help but imagine what feelings he's going through and at this time it's the most dangerous time to be out alone'

'_He'll be alright, those kids are smart and know how to take care of themselves, I'm sure their friend isn't an exception, and even if he was, I'm sure he's learnt a thing or two from that feisty blonde beauty'_ Dark smiled.

Daisuke frowned disapprovingly at Darks interpretation of Max. But it didn't dim his worry at all, Dark sensed this.

'_Daisuke, if you want you could let me have control and I'll go out and look for him, but you have to promise me that you'll go to sleep'_ Dark said turning serious.

'Huh? Really? Arigato Dark'

Dark climbed out of Daisuke's bunk bed and got changed into some more comfortable clothes. He then opened the window that led to the balcony and stepped out, summoning With, he took off into the starry sky. A nice night for a flight.

'Oh, before you go to sleep Daisuke, let me just warn you that you body is going to be tired when you get it back' said Dark.

Meanwhile, downstairs Gassy suddenly woke up, finding that Iggy was awake and annoyed and Angel was fast asleep. Max and Nudge weren't there.

'Was it me or did I hear something just now?' Gassy whispered

'Daisuke is restless; he's been tossing and turning for most of the night. So much it's kept me awake. By the sound of it he just jumped out of bed.' Iggy explained 'very quietly' he added mentally, Iggy didn't like Daisuke's unusual talent to be silent; he's been listening to Daisuke when he walks and he can't hear a thing, he can even jump out of bed almost silently.

'Where's Max and Nudge?'

Iggy gave a scowl 'gone looking for Fang, they crept out about 2 hours ago and told me to baby sit the two sleeping babies' Iggy complained, 'if I wasn't blind it would be Nudge sitting here'

'Yeah we know, but sorry mate, you are' Iggy just grumbled under his breath. 'Hey, shall we go up and talk to Daisuke to pass the time? You said he's awake and I'm not sleepy, you?'

'Nah, but what about Angel?'

'She sleeps like a baby, she won't wake now until the sun comes up, or we poke her' said Gassy mischievously.

Gassy and Iggy got up and made their way up the stairs, Gassy guiding Iggy with their fingertips touching. Gassy opened Daisuke's door and peered around, the window was wide open and a strong breeze was blowing the curtains around. His wardrobe was also open and his pajamas were on the floor in a heap. Daisuke's bed was empty; the covers were thrown to one side and draping over the wooden safety bars. Gassy walked into the room and went over to the side bathroom and found it unlocked. Iggy heard the opening of the bathroom door and turned his head to the sound of the light switch being turned on.

'He's not here'

Iggy felt the breeze and let it guide him to the window. Is he out on the balcony? He stepped out and could smell the ocean from the air. He felt Gassy stand beside him.

'Not here either' Gassy looked over the railing, there were a few places that could be served as a hand or a foot hold because of the wild Ivy growing up the side, could he have climbed down? And where was he going?

'Maybe he's somewhere else inside the house' suggested Iggy

'You would've heard him wouldn't you?' Gassy dismissed.

'No, I already told you, I can't hear Daisuke at all, for all we know we just missed him go downstairs'

'I don't think so' said Gassy slowly.

'Why's that?' asked Iggy

'Well, his night clothes are on the floor and his wardrobe is open and he left his window wide open'

'I can't see that, can I?!' Iggy defended. 'Let's go inside, it's cold out here'

'Should we close the window?'

'He obviously left it open so he could get back in, lets not make it known that we were here. Is the door closed like you found it?' Iggy heard a light being switched off and the closing of the door, 'right I think we should explore this place a bit more' said Iggy grinning.

They left the room and positioned the door to how they found it and went down stairs. Daisuke's room is the only upstairs room there was in this house. They found the other bedrooms of Emiko, Towa-chan and Daichii on the first floor and made sure they were definitely asleep before snooping around. They had found a basement down some stairs that was full of junk and stuff but Iggy specifically remembered that Emiko had said there was another basement and it was probably this one that Daichii said not to enter. They had found a door not too far from the first basement that was locked very securely; it took Iggy 5 whole minutes to crack it open. To Gassy and Iggy, 'do not enter' means 'let yourself in.' The door slowly opened and it was pitch black inside, when the door hit the side of the wall quietly, Iggy noted that it sounded a lot like metal hitting stone and the sound sort of bent smoothly and traveled downwards for about 3 seconds.

'Its pitch black in there' whispered Gassy. It's situations like these when Iggy was the eyes for the flock and he was extremely proud of it.

'The room is circular, a diameter of about 15 meters and it goes down for about 90ft' estimated Iggy.

Gassy gave an impressed whistle 'this is one cool basement, let me get a flash light'

Gassy quietly ran back to Daisuke's room and_ borrowed_ his torch from his bag, careful not to disturb anything else he went back downstairs to Iggy, who was feeling the walls inside the door.

'Its sandstone' said Iggy.

Gassy turned on the light and looked inside; the walls were made of large bricks of red sandstone and they curved around to form a circular room, a staircase made from the same sandstone spiraled its way along the sides and to the bottom. Peering over the edge the light dimly reveals something but it wasn't definable at this height, even with raptor vision.

'Let's go down!' whispered Gassy excitedly, Iggy was equally excited but tried to focus on where he was putting his feet and listening to how far down they were. Finally they ran out of steps and Gassy looked around swinging the light from side to side.

'What the hell is this?' said Gassy curiously. In front of him and taking the majority of the floor space was a dome like shape with a hole in the centre. Iggy walked forward and felt around, he also sniffed. Oil or something similar to what he has used in some of his bombs and the smell of soot was heavy down here.

'It's a giant burner' concluded Iggy

'Oh cool, check these out!' Suddenly something was thrown over Iggy's head and something placed in his hand.

'Gassy! Keep it down, what is this?' Iggy whispered harshly and felt the material that he now wore.

'It's a cloak! You know, like Star Wars! And that other thing is like some kind of staff, it's got carvings and stuff on it!' Gassy whispered excitedly.

Indeed it did, Iggy felt along the thing and found symbols and letters and at the end was a carving of…a bird? But it didn't have a head so…a pair of wings?

'Where'd you find these? Iggy asked

'There's a little closet just here, they were in there. Oh this is so cool! I am the Emperor! You will join the Dark side Iggy!' Gassy said, imitating the voice of **Ian McDiarmid** perfectly. Iggy laughed. 'I shall never join the Dark side! Not unless they provide free 'all you can eat' buffets and double chocolate fudge sundaes!' replied Iggy with the same dramatics.

'Oh, I would so love to have one or two of those right now' drooled Gassy

'Maybe we can persuade Emiko to take us somewhere where we can get some' suggested Iggy.

He and Gassy continued to joke and replay Star Wars scenes for a few more hours, but eventually the torch battery ran out and it was pitch black once again. Not that it mattered to Iggy.

'Crap the light went out'

'We should get out of here anyway; I don't know how long we've been down here and I don't want to be found out or else face the wrath of Max. Where's that closet?'

'How should I know! I can't see! Oh here it is' Gassy bumped into the open door. Iggy walked towards Gassy's voice and drew the cloak over his head.

'Were these things hung up or just folded?' asked Iggy

'Err…I can't remember, folded I think' they folded the cloaks as best they could and piled them in and leaning the staffs against the wall. They blindly found the stairs and quickly climbed them, at the top they closed the door and Iggy relocked it.

'What time is it?' Iggy asked

'Its 'bout ten past five or twenty-five past two, I can't tell which hands which in this light' replied Gassy after peering at his watch. 'Let's get back to Angel, I'm actually tired now'

Iggy silently agreed and they both went back to their makeshift beds, falling straight to sleep as soon as they hit their pillows. Shortly after Max and Nudge came back and collapsed on their beds as well, tired and down, as they came back with no Fang.

Dark returned after searching the woodland areas, he had covered a lot of ground and it didn't leave that many other places to look. Daisuke was thankfully asleep so Emiko won't be suspicious of him staying awake all night. Dark on the other hand, was exhausted and quickly sought the sanctuary of Daisuke's bed without bothering to change. Once he was unconscious he transformed back to Daisuke who was still peacefully snoozing. Finally the whole house was silent and resting…until there was a load of banging and a scream from the kitchen area. Suddenly everyone in the household was awake and running to the source. Emiko turned the light on and found the fridge open with a booby trip hanging from it; basically it was an inflatable balloon thing with a scary face on it. Angel was hanging from the ceiling lamp and was clinging on to it for dear life.

'Maaaaaaaaaax! There's a monster in the fridge!' she wailed

Max became wide awake when she heard Angel scream, but the adrenaline rush immediately plummeted when she saw the scene before her.

'It's not a monster sweety, it's just a blow up toy that for some reason is in the fridge' she said eyeing the thing bemused, 'it's alright, you're safe, just hop down now'

'I don't like it' Angel cried.

Max walked behind the counter and punched the thing hard, so it burst. Some amazed expressions were staring her way from the Niwas.

'Wow, that girl can sure pack a punch' said Daichii under his breath.

Max turned to Angel and held her arms out, intending to catch her.

'Monster's dead now, come on' Max said softly.

Angel let go and slotted into Max's arms and quietly cried into Max's chest. Max secured her comfortably in her arms, stroking her hair and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She walked back to the sofas and futons and continued to cuddle Angel to calm her down.

Gassy on the other hand was battling between anger, for seeing his sister cry and the urge to burst out laughing, by the humor of it all. He ended doing neither and decided to go comfort his sister. Nudge was looking at the Niwas like they were crazy but then her eyes drooped and thought she'd go back to sleep.

'Well this is one house I wouldn't mind living in, there always a surprise where you least expect it' Iggy laughed before joining the others.

The Niwas stood awkwardly and Daisuke turned to his mother glaring, he still hadn't forgiven her for the laser incident.

'I knew these traps were a crazy idea'

Later on when Daisuke had left for school and the flock had a huge breakfast, Emiko approached the flock and apologised for scaring Angel. She explained that they were there incase a burglar got into the house. Apparently Angel had woken up after everyone got back and they were all in dreamland so she went by herself, well not completely for she had Chelete with her, and go find something to eat. And she wasn't expecting something to jump out of a common kitchen fridge.

'Again I'm sorry, I really would like to make it up to you so how about I take you shopping!?' Emiko proposed, 'we can get you some clothes of your own and I need to get some groceries anyway so how about it?'

'Err, sounds ok to me…' said Angel hesitantly

'Can we have ice cream while we're out?!' chirped Gassy

'You know that's not a bad idea, I can't remember the last time I went out for ice cream. Oh it's such a shame Daisuke has to go to school, he'll miss out on all the fun' said Emiko, who sounded not in the least unhappy for depriving Daisuke. 'Towa-chan!'

'Hai?!' The cheery silver haired young woman peered around the corner.

'Come on! We're going to go shopping!'

'Oh' Towa-chan's emerald orbs widened fearfully, 'Oh…err…gomen Emiko-san but I still have…err chores! Yes lots of chores to do, I won't ever get them done if I go out now! You have fun though! Ja ne' and she literally disappeared out of sight.

Emiko stared surprised at the spot where Towa-chan once was.

'Strange, Towa-chan usually likes shopping…' Emiko muttered to herself loudly. 'Oh well, never mind. Let's go!'

Shortly, Emiko and the flock enter the market and shopping area, it was quite quiet and some of the stalls were still getting the last of their merchandise out.

'Alrighty, how about the boy's go off and do their thing and we meet back here in an hour for ice cream?' Emiko asked.

Iggy and Gassy were a little put off by the thought of separating from the girls, plus if Emiko was anything like Towa-chan she'll be picking out every thing in sight that is pink and frilly and Gassy didn't want to miss Max being treated like a Barbie doll.

'You'll be alright guys' Max said assuredly but gave them a look to tell them to be careful. Gassy passed on the message to Iggy, who gave a nod.

They went their separate ways and as Gassy had predicted, he saw the first place Emiko dragged the girls to, was a clothes shop. Gassy shook his head and kept close to Iggy.

'So, where'd you wanna go?'

'I don't know. I feel like a rat in a maze for I have no idea where I am and no idea where anything is. Being blind doesn't help one bit either.'

'Well there's some kind of sports shop over there, want to check that out first?'

'Sure, why not?'

Meanwhile in the clothes shop, Max thought she was going to die on the spot. Her arm was heavy with clothes that Emiko wanted her to try on and the others were in a similar position. She mentally thanked God that Iggy and Gassy weren't around to see this. Emiko was dashing to and fro and picking up more or less the whole shops stock and placing them in their arms. They barely saw what she gave them before another piece of clothing was put on top of it. When Emiko thought it was enough she shooed them into the changing rooms and demanded to see each piece of clothing they put on. Max looked despairingly at the clothes in her arms and thought she didn't even want to be seen dead in these clothes. She picked through them, tossing the majority to the side and selecting only those she thought were nice and that she would actually wear. Of course that meant no dresses, but she did like this ¾ length skirt with a silk scarf-like belt, that was as close to a dress that she will accept. She put that on with a long sleeved netted top with a flesh coloured vest underneath, the combination looked nice, Max thought. Although the belt was pink, the skirt was denim and it belled out slightly so it flared a bit when she turned. What she was really happy with, was that she could move in it, most denim skirts she has seen had girls walking in shorts steps because the skirt gave them no room to move. She opened the curtain to let Emiko see and got rewarded with a squeal of approval.

'Max, those clothes make you look so grown up, they really suit you. Those are a must have, once you've tried everything else we can look for a nice pair of shoes to go with them' commented Emiko, looking distastefully at Max's grey trainers.

Max closed the curtain. This was going to be a long day. Once everyone had tried everything and selected the clothes they wanted, Angel and Nudge's piles being slightly bigger than Max's, they were dragged over to the shoe section where they found a pair of shoes each. Max managed to convince the girls to get a pair that were at least practical for flying and running. Getting to the counter Max went into her pocket to get their wallet of cash.

'Max what are you doing?' asked Emiko

'I'm not letting you pay for all of this yourself, does this place take U.S. dollars?'

Emiko was somewhat surprised that Max had that much money on her, but didn't complain. Hauling their purchases out the shop they found Iggy and Gassy waiting impatiently for them.

'You were in there _all_ that time? I'm glad we didn't go with you, I'd be bored to death' said Gassy

'Some are just not easy to please,' Max said sarcastically 'did you find anything you wanted? If so tell me what ice cream you want so I can order it and I'll give you the money to get whatever'

'Yes please' said Gassy holding his hand out. Max gave him a wad of cash and he told her what they wanted and he and Iggy disappeared down the street.

Max was exhausted and praised the man who invented chairs as she sat down at a table outside an ice cream parlor.

'Isn't ice cream from Italy supposed to be the best in the world?' asked Nudge

'I don't know,' Max told her 'but I guess we'll be the judges today'

Max looked through the menu, glad that there was an English translation and found what she wanted, then looked for Gassy's and Iggy's order, or something close to it. A waiter came over and they told him their orders. Emiko started chatting bubbly with the waiter, as Gassy and Iggy came over with a couple of bags.

'That was quick, what you get?' asked Nudge.

'Just some guy clothes and this and that' Max gave them a suspicious stare at the 'this and that' statement 'do you like our t-shirts? I think they rock!'

Both Gassy and Iggy were wearing black baggy t-shirts with white writing on them, Iggy's said 'I am a Bomb Technician, If you see me running, Try to Keep up' and Gassy's said 'I am da BOMB!' and it had a picture of one of those cartoon bombs on his chest.

'Being worn by you two, it's a good thing people don't realise how accurate those t-shirts are,'

Gassy and Iggy grinned.

Shortly after, they soon realized why Towa-chan was so unwilling to come, each of them were handed a heavy load of grocery bags each, along with their own shopping while Emiko hardly carried anything at all and completely ignored their discomfort.

* * *

'What?! You can't be serious!'

Dr. Martinez looked up to Jeb Bachelor who had just screamed down the phone. She instantly began to worry because the call Jeb was making concerned the flock. Itex was still watching the flock, but Jeb had a friend on the inside who could tell them what was going on. Jeb continued to listen, his knuckles turning white from gripping the phone so hard and he was pulling on his hair. Total had trotted into the room to see what the ruckus was about.

'I see, no I understand. Please do everything you can and contact me if anything else happens.' Jeb hung up and collapsed into an arm chair.

Currently Jeb, Dr. Martinez and Total were staying in a small chalet in the Alps. It had enough food and drink stored there to last them three months, they had been there two.

'So, what's happened, I don't like being woken up after I had finally got the upper hand on that fox' Total babbled.

'Fang has gone missing…and has been presumed dead' said Jeb fearfully.

'What! When? Where? Are the others alright?!' exclaimed Dr. Martinez

'The others are fine, they reached a coastal town not to far from Venice about two days ago, and that's when Fang went missing. The flock is still there trying to find him.' Jeb placed his head in his hands 'Oh Max, I hope you can pull through this,' he said to himself.

'But there is still a chance that he is alive, right?' asked a worried Dr. Martinez.

'There's a possibility yes, but if it's the worse case scenario…we have to try and persuade Max to save the world without him. She'll do it but I'm afraid that she might try to kill herself in the process. She is very attached to Fang…'

'She loves him…' said Dr. Martinez, '…and Fang loves Max, it's only recently, I believe, that they are finally coming to terms with their feelings. Max is never going to give up on Fang; they've been through to much to leave each other behind.'

'And yet it's ok to leave _me_ behind, honestly, I should have known something like this would happen without me to protect them. Angel must be feeling so lonely right now without me by her side, I am practically Iggy's eyes, he is completely dependant on me, and Max, I taught her everything she knows, she's probably lost without my guidance' Total puffed out his chest proudly.

Of course Jeb and Dr. Martinez didn't believe a word that came out of that small canine's mouth but it did lighten the mood a little.

'I think we should go and help them' said Dr. Martinez

'No, if we interfere, Max won't become the survivor I brought her up to be. She has to be able to do this on her own, or this world is lost'

'For goodness sake Jeb! They are only children! I am sick and tired of Max this, Max that, she is not all powerful; she needs the support of her parents! Our support! And right now is probably the most vital time when she needs us! They all do! And I…I…I'd never be able to forgive myself if I can't be there for them' Dr. Martinez cried.

'I understand. I honestly do. I've been looking after Max since she was born. I don't like standing on the sidelines any more than you do' Jeb retorted.

'Then why do we?' she challenged 'seriously what difference is it going to make, it's not as if we're going to get involved in fighting Itex directly but at the moment there is nothing we can do indirectly and the fact that we are there for them when they need us, may just get them through what they are going through right now'

'Or it could completely break them down…'

'…and we'd be there to make sure they get back on their feet again'

Jeb had no argument to that.

'Dr. M : 1, Jeb : 0' Total scored. 'And I vote to see them, so it's two against one, you're out numbered Jebby. So when's the next flight to Italy?

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**To be honest, when I started writing this I totally forgot about Total (no pun intended) so now I'm bringing him back into the picture...er story. Jeb is a prick as usual.**

**I think that Gassy and Iggy's T-shirts are awsome! I just had to put them into the story when I saw this guy walking down the street with the T-shirt that Iggy was wearing. And hence the reason there is a shopping spree is in this story. lol**

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	8. Chapter 8

**Here's chap 8, and it's back to school for Fang...not that school, the normal one with home work and learning and exams and stress. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.**

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Fang opened his eyes groggily, blinking at the light in his eyes. He sat up in his bed; the bed that he had first found himself in when awoke in this place, and felt very hollow. It must have been at least a few days that he has been there and each night he was being emotionally battered, and Fang hated it. Each time he would lose himself to his emotions and each time, part of him went missing. Fang wasn't sure what it was but no matter what happened to him, he would never give in to those bastards Kei and Krad. Ever since the first night, when Fang saw Satoshi transform he has kept his distance from him, and Satoshi understandably did the same.

'That should teach me' thought Fang 'never trust _anyone_'

Fang tumbled out of bed and went to the wardrobe, scowling at the lack of choice in clothing; Fang had no choice but to take out a smart pair of black trousers out of a dozen of smart black trousers and one of a dozen white shirts. With no sign of him getting his old clothes back, Fang ripped the sleeves of the shirt, just to have something different and hopefully annoy Kei.

After getting washed and dressed in the bathroom just down the hall, he walked downstairs with no shoes or socks on. Another factor Fang found that pisses Kei off. He entered the dinning room and found Kei and Satoshi already there. Kei eyed Fang disapprovingly, taking in the condition of the shirt as the sleeves were ripped, the shirt was untucked and it was unbuttoned impractically low, showing a reasonable amount of Fang's well toned chest. Plus Fang took no heed to tightening the belt around his waist and allowed the trousers to slip down and rest on his hips, making the ends of the trouser legs drag along the floor as he walked bare foot.

'What happened to your shirt Fang?' inquired Kei, in a tone that said 'you had better have a good answer'

'The statue down the hall came alive and attacked me' was all Fang said with a straight face. The inner Fang was snickering as Kei's eye twitched, even Satoshi smirked slightly but it was quickly gone when Kei glared at him. Fang took the seat next to Satoshi, without saying anything to him and began to eat from the food that was set out.

'After you have finished eating, you would do well to dress properly because you are going to school'

The orange juice that Fang was drinking was suddenly sprayed everywhere and he coughed violently. Kei was repulsed and Fang made a mental note of that. Once he got his breath back, he looked at Kei as though he was crazy.

'School? What happen to 'I'm not to leave the premises' crap, and I've already tried going to school and got flown out less than a week into the term' Fang argued, and wondered if Kei got the literal term of 'flown out.'

'You have no say in this Fang and besides, Satoshi will be keeping an eye on you as well as some others, and you're going to the same school and will be in all the same classes. I have already enrolled you in as Satoshi's second cousin once removed and your name is Kiba Koku-Yoku, so you better get used to being addressed by that'

'Fang Dark Wings? How creative, did you come with that all by yourself?' Fang mocked.

Kei narrowed his eyes at him, 'You better treat your teachers better than this _Kiba_, because going to school is the only thing that's going to get you out the house for a while, if you get expelled then you will be spending the rest of your time brooding here' Kei gave a leering smile 'and you should be treating me with respect and you should be thanking me, I know how bored you are all day, so I think it's kind of me to let you out once and awhile'

Fang didn't like Kei's attitude, but he had to admit that getting out the house was appealing, even if it was against his will.

'Fine'

Kei smiled triumphantly and continued eating.

Approximately 50 minutes later, Fang and Satoshi were driving to school in a limo. Fang was dressed properly now, and had replaced his shirt with a school one, which wasn't very different except it had a red stripe all around the collar. At first Fang was reluctant to get inside the limo but thought that this was his only ticket to partial freedom and got inside, keeping relatively close to the window. It was silent throughout most of the journey before Satoshi broke it.

'You're going to have to talk to me eventually you know, because according to the school records, we're family'

'Not all family members get along with each other' Fang muttered, staring out the window.

'Unfortunately that's not the way my Father conveyed us to the school principle' Satoshi said, pushing up his glasses.

Fang growled and banged his head against the glass, why that sneaky son of a …

'I know this won't reassure you, but I'm not at all with my fathers ideas and I'm personally nothing like Krad. I hate him as much as my father' Satoshi clenched his fists 'I'm sorry I can't control him and I'm sorry for what he has done to you. I know exactly how it feels like' Satoshi's voice was full of anger and he was shaking because of it, 'but I want to get stronger so I can finally rid of him, so he can never hurt anyone again. My bloodline is cursed with this demon and if I can't rid of him within my lifetime, then I'll make sure my bloodline is never passed on' Satoshi said emotionally.

Fang had never seen this side of Satoshi, even though he's only known the guy a couple of days, Satoshi seemed to be the type to never let his emotions out and always wore a mask to keep them hidden. It reminded him of himself.

'Doesn't Krad know that you're conspiring against him' Fang asked cautiously.

'Ha, he knows that very well, but he also knows that I don't have the power to do it, although, even if I did come up with something right now he wouldn't know about it, he's asleep' Satoshi smirked.

'Goldilocks sleeps?' Fang laughed, and Satoshi joined in. They were in better moods after that and chatted for the rest of the journey.

When they finally arrived, Fang swiftly got out the car and Satoshi raised an eyebrow questionably.

'I hate closed spaces' Fang stated

'You're claustrophobic?' Satoshi didn't see Fang to be someone with that kind of fear, but then again he was afraid of himself, and he didn't seem the kind of person who was afraid of his own shadow. Not technically of course.

'Living in a dog crate half your life can do that to you' Fang replied.

Satoshi wasn't expecting that, and noted that Fang was being dead serious.

They walked towards the large building and Satoshi told him what was what as they went along. They were just about to enter the reception when Satoshi said,

'We'd best start talking in Japanese now; otherwise it's going to look a bit weird' he explained in said language. Fang switched as well.

'Why is it Japanese? I thought this was Italy' Fang asked confused, Satoshi and his father, it was understandable, Fang was sure Hiwatari wasn't Italian in any shape or form, but the school?

'It is but it's full of Japanese and Japanese speaking families'

'Why's that?'

'I honestly don't know' Satoshi opened the door and they walked up to reception to sign Fang in.

The receptionist welcomed him to the school and informed him of the rules and then gave him a timetable with the teachers' names and room numbers. Fang didn't bother to look at it and followed Satoshi.

Daisuke was tired; he had been tired everyday so far since those kids showed up. The combination of thieving and searching the town had taken a lot out of him. This guy wasn't anywhere! He banged his head on his desk and thought maybe he could shut his eyes for a while…

'Oi! Daisuke!'

An arm just wrapped itself around his neck and placed him in a headlock. Daisuke groaned in annoyance.

'Get off Saehara, I'm too tired to deal with you right now' Daisuke said tiredly

'Nah ah, this should wake you up, I just got some reeeeally nice pictures of Risa last night, wanna see?'

'Not now'

Saehara collapsed before jumping onto his feet again, 'seriously Daisuke, what have you been doing to get yourself this pooped. You didn't even get excited at the prospect of seeing Risa showing a bit of skin. Are you sick?'

'No'

Now Saehara looked honestly worried, and yelled out to the twins.

'Oi! Harada-san! Have you got any idea what's wrong with Daisuke? He's not himself at all'

'No, he seemed fine the other day' replied Risa. Riku walked over to Daisuke and put a hand on his head, and Daisuke jerked his head up surprised and blushing.

'He doesn't feel particularly warm. Hey Niwa-kun is everything alright?' she asked concerned.

Daisuke's heart pounded as he gazed into Riku's chocolate eyes. They were just like Risa's, only there was something in them that Daisuke couldn't place and Daisuke ended up blushing harder when he realised just how close their faces were. He jumped backwards in his chair causing it to tilt and fall on his back.

'Niwa-kun!'

'Are you ok?'

Daisuke winced and rubbed his back. Riku had dropped to her knees and helped him sit up.

'This seriously isn't my day today' he sighed. Just then the teacher decided to show up.

'Alright class settle down, return to your seats please, we have a transfer here today and- Mr. Niwa and Miss Harada what are you doing on the floor?'

'N-nothing' Daisuke stuttered embarrassed.

'Is that so? Well Harada-chan please return to your seat and Niwa-san please pick yours up and don't knock it over this time'

Both Riku and Daisuke hurried to sit down and then faced the front to see a young man standing next to sensei.

'As I was saying we have a new transfer student so please be polite and help him if he gets lost and yadda yadda, you should know by now what we expect' this teacher can be very unpredictable, Daisuke thought, 'so please introduce yourself and talk a little about yourself' she said turning to him and seating herself behind her desk, lazily resting her head on her hand.

'My name is Kiba Koku-Yoku, but you can call me Fang, I hate school, I like wrestling and super sized pizza with milkshake' he said bored. 'Any questions?'

Loads of questions were thrown at him at once and he was a little overwhelmed. The teacher held her hand up for silence and the room eventually dimmed down.

'One question at a time and put your hand up' she ordered, and a flurry of hands filled the air. She selected one.

'How old are you?'

'14'

'Seriously?! You look 17!'

'I'm just taller than average, next'

'Do you have a girlfriend?'

'No, and don't want one, next'

'Where do you come from?'

'The U.S, next'

'Who taught you Japanese? Your accent is flawless!'

'I taught myself, next'

'Are you related to Dark somehow?'

'No, I'm related to Satoshi, next'

'Are you gay?'

'Are you?'

'Alright! That's enough questions!' interrupted the teacher, 'Mr. Koku-Yoku, take that seat next to Hiwatari-san'

Fang found his seat, slumped down and ran a hand through his hair exasperated. The Japanese are weird, Fang concluded. Throughout the lesson Fang kept asking questions to Satoshi to make sure he was doing things right and the rest of the class had noticed how well he was getting on with Satoshi. To them it was a shock, because Satoshi rarely conversed with anyone, let alone getting on with them. At one point in the lesson Satoshi was shaking and some of the girls, mainly Satoshi fans, had given up on their work to stare at him, wondering what was wrong. The lack of concentration caught the teacher's attention and even she was frowning at Hiwatari's odd behavior. Being at the front of the class, she could see that he had his hand over his mouth and trying to stop laughing.

'Hiwatari-san you are disrupting my lesson, can you explain what is so funny?' she asked sternly.

Everyone was shocked, especially Daisuke when Satoshi suddenly broke out into fits of laughter. It was soon joined by Kiba who had also tried to stop laughing. Once they had finally calmed down they found the teacher standing angrily in front of them, they looked at each other then burst out laughing again.

'Boys, if you don't calm down right now. I'm going to have to ask you to leave my classroom' she half shouted.

The laughter didn't dwindle one bit and she ordered them out the classroom. Once they were outside, a shocked silence filled the room. While outside, Satoshi and Fang were leaning against the walls to hold themselves up as they laughed until they couldn't breathe.

'You've got to…be…kidding me' Satoshi managed between laughs.

'I'm…dead…serious…' Fang said, in the same condition as Satoshi. 'He's got enough gas stored in his gut to cause a chemical hazard, I have no idea how he keeps it in, but he just happened to be in a science lab, and using Bunsen burners when he just had to let one rip!' Fang said in one huge breath.

'And it made the lab…catch on fire! Oh no way, I'd love to meet this Gassy person'

'I'd like you to meet him too, and everyone else, if we weren't in the situation we're in and the fact that I have no idea where they are at the moment' Fang had finally stopped laughing and so did Satoshi.

'You miss them don't you?'

Fang blinked, was he that easy to read? He changed the subject.

'Well, since we got nothing to do, how about you show me the rest of this dump before next class' Fang said.

'We can't just leave; she might come out to tell us to come back in'

'What does it matter? You already know all this stuff, having graduated from University and all, and I think the stuff she was teaching is a load of bull' said Fang continuing to walk down the hall.

Satoshi was slightly surprised that Fang knew he'd been to University, but then again he was stuck in the mansion for three days. He had to do something during that time.

'You coming or what?' Fang called, dragging Satoshi out of his thoughts.

'Alright I'm coming, I suppose you need me so you don't get lost' Satoshi smirked.

'Nope, I need you so that if I get into trouble, you do as well' Fang snickered.

'You're very self centered, you know that'

'Not really, you just look like you needed to break free for a while'

'Break free?'

'Don't you get tired of obeying the rules all the time? Or more specifically, your Dad?'

Satoshi's eyes became cold and his expression hardened.

'At the moment there's nothing I can do about that. I'm not officially independent until I turn 16.'

'So you've made this cold hard exterior to hide behind. How long has it been that you have truly been yourself?'

'Myself?'

'Yeah, and not a hollow puppet that mindlessly follows orders'

Satoshi sighed and shook his head.

'Being myself won't bring my father down'

'Who said anything about being yourself when confronting your father? I'm just saying that you don't have to be like that _all_ the time. You do have a life you know; your father can't control all of it'

'You have no idea of how much control my father has on me, as a father, as the Chief of police and even a master, whenever Krad is in control'

'But he isn't God, he has no control over free will, he can't change the person you are'

'And what do you know about it? You're not me, my father doesn't even care for me and I have a reputation as a commander, plus I have an evil dark half inside of me, if I become myself then I…then I…I might just kill myself!' Satoshi stared gob smacked on how much he had revealed about himself, and saw that Fang had an impassive expression.

'Is that so?' He said with an emotionless voice. 'Then why do you keep fighting?'

Satoshi was breathing hard, a little panicked. He composed himself and gave Fang the same cold glare.

'Because I want to live' he said quietly. Fangs face split into a grin and stood beside Satoshi to give him a pat on the back, because we all know Fang isn't a huggy person. Satoshi didn't know what to make of Fang's sudden change and it showed on his face as Fang started laughing at him. Satoshi glared and made to punch Fang lightly but Fang dodged the wimpy little swing.

'Is that all you got? I thought you said you were a commander of police or is that an act too?' Fang laughed

'Once I catch you, I'm going to make you eat those words' Satoshi growled and made a dash for Fang. Again Fang dodged and ran down the hall, Satoshi hot in pursuit. But he soon realised that he wasn't going to catch up but continued to chase him anyway, even when he was no longer in his line of vision. Satoshi ran out side and stopped, catching his breath. He looked along the paths lined with trees which for now were clear of students; he then looked either side of him, also clear. Fang was no where in sight.

'Oi! Little boy blue! Up here!'

Satoshi turned around to see Fang sitting on a ledge just above the doorway, about 15ft up from the ground.

'Can't get me now officer, maybe you should call back up' Fang smirked.

'Or maybe you should get down before someone sees you, skipping class is one thing but climbing the building is something else'

'There's no body around, who's going to know?'

'_I_ know and I'll report you and you can get expelled on your first day, then you would be stuck in the mansion _all_ day with nothing to do'

'You wouldn't'

'Try me' Satoshi said seriously.

Fang got the hint and jumped down landing perfectly on his feet. Satoshi looked as though he was going to have a heart attack before letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

'Technically, you should have broken an ankle or two just now'

'Technically, if I was completely human'

Fang suddenly gripped his arm and fell to his knees, grimacing in pain.

'What's wrong?!'

'Damn, I forget about the drug'

'What drug? Is this something my father done?'

'Yeah, he said something about getting extreme cramp if I ran, which I stupidly just did, crap this hurts'

'Breathe deeply, and don't move too much, do you want me to get some help?'

'No, this is nothing, it will go away in a while' Fang panted and shortly began to stand and gingerly stretched and bent his legs. 'Guess this means I won't be doing the 100m sprint in P.E.'

'Can you walk?'

Fang started walking, silently answering the question. Satoshi showed him the rest of the school grounds then they headed back inside just as the bell went for the end of class.

Two lessons later, it was lunch time and Daisuke observed Satoshi and Kiba from afar. They seemed to get on really well together and it made him happy that there was someone else who could bring out a true smile out of Satoshi. Lesson time didn't give Daisuke any chances to talk with the new transfer, and he had a feeling that becoming friends with him would be a good idea, besides, Satoshi likes him and he seemed a nice enough guy. He looked around for the inseparable pair and found them in the cafeteria, completely surrounded by fan girls. Daisuke sweat dropped at the scene. Kiba looked harassed and judging his tense posture as two girls clung to his arms, he wasn't enjoying the attention. The other guy's in the room didn't seem to like him getting all the attention either, especially from the senior years. One them, a large muscular brute, stomped over to Kiba and the girls scattered away from the angry senior creating a path for him to get through. When he was standing before Kiba, the girls on his arms let go and abandoned him to the ring that had now formed around him. Only Satoshi stood by his side.

'Hey, Dark wannabe, just because you're a newbie doesn't mean you can hog all the girls'

Kiba blinked but did nothing else; his face was set in an impassive expression. This seemed to aggravate the senior more and grabbed Kiba by the collar and slammed him against the wall. Many of the girls gasped as they watched.

'I'm talking to you twerp!'

'Sempai, I would advise you to let him go, if you were to start a riot, you would be expelled for it' said Satoshi calmly. The senior glared at Satoshi, but did not heed his advice.

'And who asked you, you Hiwatari scum! Your family has been belittling us for years and your authoritive attitude makes me sick, save it for when someone's mugging you. You are so much like your dad; I'd swear you were the same person…'

The senior didn't get to say anything more as he was suddenly flying through the air and landing a good seven meters from where he originally stood, clutching his ribs and wheezing. Kiba was standing freely and poised in a fighters stance. Daisuke wasn't sure of what he saw, for it was all a blur, but he thought that Kiba had crossed his armed and chopped them down into the arm with was attached to the hand at his collar, freeing him and then tucking in tight and let loose one hell of a hard side kick. Kiba soon relaxed when he saw that the senior was making no attempt to get up and swept a piercing glance at the seniors, warning them to back off. Even Satoshi wore a surprised expression, that guy was huge! How he managed to lift of the ground was anyone's guess. Kiba obviously didn't want to hang around and grabbed his bag and headed out the room, inclining his head for Satoshi to follow. Once broken out of his stupor Daisuke took off after them when everyone else started breaking out into conversation, no doubt gossiping about what just happened.

'Hiwatari-kun!'

Kiba and Satoshi had gotten outside and were heading for some benches in the shade. They turned around hearing Satoshi's name being called and Daisuke caught up and bent over to catch his breath.

'Niwa-kun? What's the matter?' Satoshi asked, not really interested.

'Nothing really, it's just I'm happy to see that you've got a friend,' Fang's eyebrow disappeared behind his bangs at the strange character of the newcomer, he seemed to have a rather childish personality and his big ruby eyes made him even more childlike. 'Hiwatari-kun rarely socialises with people unless he has to, to see you doing so willingly is great to see. You're smiling more and today you actually laughed! Ne? Koku-Yoku-san you caused that didn't you? You made Hiwatari-kun laugh' Daisuke turned to Kiba smiling.

'Uh…yeah…I suppose I did' Fang watched this kid curiously as he babbled all this gobbledygook about Satoshi's happiness and all things bubbly. This red haired, red eyed wonder truly was naïve and completely innocent. Fang recalled spotting him in his home class so he should be about 14, and he is still this trusting? Fang couldn't believe it.

'It's nothing to get excited over Niwa-kun, and besides, he's my cousin'

'Really?' Daisuke said somewhat surprised, apart from their icy glares, they looked nothing a like. 'Oh! How rude of me, Watashi wa Niwa Daisuke des; it's a pleasure to meet you Koku-Yoku-san.'

'Uh…nice to meet you too, Daisuke, and by the way you don't have to call me by my last name, it's such a mouthful and I'm not really used to it' Fang replied unsurely.

'Oh yeah, you're from America aren't you, when did you move here?' Daisuke asked curiously.

'Sometime last week, the journey was a killer; I knocked out as soon as I arrived'

'Who else came with you? Do you have any siblings?' Daisuke asked innocently. Satoshi thought that Daisuke was asking way too many questions, as innocent as he is, he still shouldn't learn too much. He was sure that Daisuke would help them if he found out about all this, but he didn't want Daisuke to get involved, incase he got hurt. Besides that, Krad would more likely become more active if Dark got wound up in this.

'Next you'll be asking for his life story Daisuke, I think Saehara has rubbed on you a bit' Satoshi smirked.

'Huh? Was I a bit nosy? Gomen nasi' he said sincerely.

'No worries, do you want to eat lunch with us?' he asked.

'Sure! That is if you don't mind' he said looking to both of them. Fang just shrugged.

They ate silently under the trees; Daisuke felt a little uncomfortable with the two cold teenagers beside him and wondered if he was making them closed off because of his presence. Daisuke hated it when people did that to him, he felt unwanted and a nuisance, which he probably was, he thought.

'Uh…how are you finding school so far Kiba-san?' Daisuke asked, trying to make a conversation.

'Dull' he replied simply and continued eating. Not much of a talker, very much like Hiwatari-kun, Daisuke thought.

'Did you have higher education before coming here? Like Hiwatari-kun?'

'No and truthfully, I don't really want to be in school, but I don't have a choice at the moment.'

'It's only two more years until you turn 16 and then you'll be free to do what you want, what do you want to do for a career? I've always wanted to become an artist'

'Don't know, I really don't want to commit myself to anything because without a doubt I'll end up leaving it behind'

'Huh?'

'Don't worry about it, so…you want to be an artist, what kind of artist are you?'

A proper conversation started from there and even Satoshi joined in. They went back to class when lunch was over and became partners in science class, along with Saehara who just wouldn't shut up. Fang ignored him for most of his annoying questions, but his curiosity was sparked when a familiar name popped up for the third time that day.

'Is Dark some kind of celebrity or something? Everyone says I look like him but I have no idea who you are talking about. Sounds like some punk rock star'

'Oh yeah, you're new here aren't you, well you're never going to believe it until you see it so come to the Greek Temple Gardens at 7:30 tonight, that's where Dark is going to strike next' Saehara said excitedly.

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**Daisuke is so oblivious! but then again he doesn't know what Fang looks like. So, what you think? Review**


	9. Chapter 9

**Longest chappie yet, with over 5000 words, whew I've been working hard. Hope you appreciate it by reviewing. I don't know whether or not to turn this into a Yaoi between Dai/Dark, or let him keep fantisizing about Risa and ending up with Riku. I don't know. Of course Max and Fang will be together and maybe a little Iggy and Nudge. I may not be up dating until some time next week cuz I need to write more! Plz review your thoughts on the couple situation. Enjoy.**

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Later that day, Daisuke, Max and the gang called it a day for looking for Fang. Again they were disappointed and each day their resolve was wavering but Max made sure to keep them strong. She truly is the leader, Daisuke thought. They were half way through dinner of rice and curry, which they each noted to say upwind from Gassy, when the door bell rang. Daisuke got up from his seat and went to open the door. Behind it he found a man and a woman who were in their mid thirties or forties holding onto wheeled bags, it seemed that they have been traveling.

'Hi there,' the woman said, English speakers are popping up all over the place, thought Daisuke, 'You must be Daisuke Niwa, we're sorry to intrude but we really would like to speak to Max' ok, Daisuke wasn't expecting that.

'How do you know my name?' Daisuke asked suspiciously.

'Never mind that, it is urgent that we talk to Max, the fate of the world rests in her hands and we are running out of time' said the man.

'Jeb, there's no need to snap at him, he has every right to be suspicious,' she said to him.

'A grumpy old man blabbing about the end of the world is a very good reason to be suspicious. I can smell food in there and all this traveling has built me up an appetite'

Daisuke looked around for the third party but there didn't seem to be anyone around.

'Who said that?'

'You ain't gonna find me looking up there laddie' Daisuke looked down to see a small dog with black fur. It then trotted into the house as though it owned the place and headed for the dinning area. There was suddenly a commotion of happy squeals and shouts, Daisuke guessed from Angel and he let the others in and led them to the dinning area.

'Mom! What are you doing here?!'

Upon entering, Max jumped up and ran over to give the woman a massive hug. The others also stopped eating to greet them, well mostly Max's Mom, they didn't seem to fond of the man.

'It's good to see you are well Max' Jeb smiled.

'Like you care' Max said sarcastically. Those words seemed to hurt Jeb but he kept the smile intact.

'Total! I've missed you sooo much. It's been so lonely without you'

'At least it was quiet' remarked Iggy.

'I missed you too Angel, could you pass me some of that curry, I'm so weak from traveling all this way to see you'

'Attention seeker'

'Seriously! You would see nothing but skin and bone if it wasn't for this fur'

'Ha ha, very funny fluff ball' Iggy said sarcastically.

All of the Niwas were staring at the small canine that was happily tucking into the curry that Angel had put down for him. Wiz had also come to inspect the newcomer, and did not like the attention or amount of food he was getting.

'I must be getting old, just then I swore I heard that dog talk' said Daichii.

'It did grandpa' replied Daisuke.

'This is Total!' Angel explained 'and he's the best doggy in the world! He's house trained and can do loads of tricks!'

'Yes well anyway' interrupted Jeb 'Max…'

'Jeb' Max said distastefully.

'You really need to be moving along, the clock is ticking and each day is coming closer to the man-made apocalypse. You don't have any more time to be dawdling around here'

'I'm not going anywhere until I find Fang.'

'I understand how you feel about this, but even if he is alive, there will be no world for either of you to live in if you don't destroy Itex! You're the only one who can do it Max, and if you let your feeling get in the way of your destiny then billions of people are going to die'

'Wa-wait a second, are you crazy? Making stories like that and then saying it to her as though it's her responsibility? How long have you been plaguing her with this horrid fairytale? Despicable, I don't know who are and I don't care but I think I know the reason why these kids ran away from you' Emiko scolded.

Jeb spluttered slightly at the woman's accusation, in truth he was so focused on Max that he forgot everyone else was there.

'Absolutely unforgivable, I want you out of my house, NOW!' Emiko literally swept Jeb through the hallway and out the front door, leaving him to stumble on the steps.

'If you EVER come near those kids or my family again I'll call the police, YOU HEAR ME!' and she slammed the door.

'Really, Mrs. Niwa was that really necessary,' Dr Martinez asked, a little intimidated as Emiko came back fuming.

'I should think so, let start again shall we, that was a very rude introduction to this family. I'm Emiko Niwa and this is my son Daisuke, and that is my father Daichii. You're Max's mother, is that right' Emiko suddenly changed from stormy clouds to bright sunshine, which put everyone on edge.

'Yes, I'm Dr Martinez and the guy you threw out was Jeb Batchelor. We are Max's parents' she replied.

'That raving lunatic is her father?' Emiko exclaimed then caught herself, 'uh…no offence intended of course'

'None taken' said Max and Dr Martinez simultaneously.

'But unfortunately Jeb is right; the fate of the world does depend on our Max. You see Max isn't an ordinary 14 year old, nor are any of these kids for that matter. I'm afraid I can't share any details but it's up to them if they want to tell you or not'

They took their meals into the living room and sat down. Emiko continued to give Jeb disapproving glares which he ignored but remained silent. Total and Wiz were getting to know each other and somehow Total could understand him.

'How have you been Max?' asked Dr Martinez concerned.

'Daisuke and his mom have been really kind to us; they've let us stay here and fed us and even bought us new sets of clothes' Max replied.

'That's good to hear, but how are you fairing with Fang missing?'

Max froze for a moment and the flock looked at her worriedly.

'We'll find him' she said decisively, and then changed the subject, asking about her mom's welfare, but Total beat her to it.

'Two whole months in a wooden shack with absolutely nothing to do, food was awful and the beds were hard as rocks. There wasn't even any TV, all we had that proved that there was a civilized world out there was a cell phone and a laptop, neither of which are any good to me! It was luck alone that we managed to live without getting sick!'

'That's a little over exaggerated don't you think?' Jeb commented.

'Well it may have been comfortable for you but it certainly wasn't for me. I don't have any fingers or thumbs to play games on that laptop of yours to pass the time. Not to mention you were on it literally 24/7 doing who knows what'

Daisuke was still not accustomed to the fact that this dog was speaking perfect English with no doggy accent, what would a dog accent sound like anyway? As the conversation got onto more serious matters like other ways to find Fang and the Itex base, which he still had no clue to what that was.

'What is this Itex business you said that you're going to bring it down? I believe I've already told you we want to help you and you haven't even told us the truth about yourselves so there's not been a lot we can do'

'And its best stayed that way' said Jeb quickly 'you've already done more than enough for them, we cannot possibly involve you in more. We're sorry for the secrecy but the situation we're in right now is dangerous and not even the police have the power to prevent what is going to happen. We do not want to risk getting people hurt so I ask you not to pry into this, for your own safety' Jeb said seriously.

'_He may be a crazy old loon but he speaks wise words' _said Dark _'However I do not agree with him, he's been blabbing on about the fate of the world, if this is true then we have as much right to know about it as he does, we live in this world after all'_

Daisuke repeated Darks comment.

'That is true but seriously, this kind of thing will get you and your family into a lot of trouble'

'Ha, we've handled trouble before and we smacked it back in the face' exclaimed Emiko 'But I do agree with Daisuke. We are capable of looking after ourselves Mr. Batchelor so there's no need to worry about us'

'Okay, lets make a deal, we'll tell you our secrets if you tell us yours' said Iggy.

'Our secrets?! Like what exactly?' Emiko asked suspiciously.

'Like why you have a ritual chamber in your basement' blurted Gassy and got smacked on the back of the head by Iggy.

'How do you know about that?!'

Max was giving Gassy and Iggy evil glares that said she was going to have a serious talk with them later on; they had disobeyed her…again. But then again she had to be a little suspicious of this chamber thing, just what are they hiding.

'Ritual chamber huh? Well if we were to tell you that we were mutant freaks then what would you say if I asked why you have something like that in your basement?'

Daisuke blinked. Mutant freaks? They look normal to him.

'_Your naïve sense is ever strong Daisuke, ever heard the term 'never judge a book by its cover?'_

'Course I have Dark but I haven't noticed anything strange about them'

'_Are you kidding? They've got the appetites of several sumo wrestlers, if that isn't weird then I'm not a phantom thief…hey Daisuke have you got something on your face, cause Angel is giving you a strange look right now'_

Daisuke glanced towards Angel and indeed she was giving him a strange look.

'Is something wrong?' he asked, bringing everyone's attention to her.

'Are you mentally impaired?' she said bluntly.

'Huh?!' Now Daisuke had the strange look on his face.

'You're like Max'

'Angel, what the hell does my mentality got to do with Daisuke?' Max said through gritted teeth.

'He's got a voice in his head'

'How do you know that?!

'_How does she know that?'_

'I can read minds' she smiled innocently.

Daisuke sat flabbergasted, unsure what to think or if he should think at all. Max and co were giving him suspicious looks and Nudge scooted away from him. Daichii and Emiko were slightly nervous.

'_It looks like we've caught for the first time, by a six year old no less! Maybe we should let them know about me'_

'I don't know…'

'_Just let me take control and I'll explain it all'_

'What? So you can show off?'

'_That little girl can read minds and she's been voicing this conversation as we…think? Just switch Dai-chan'_

'FINE!' Daisuke growled out loud. He pulled out the picture of Risa out of his pocket and glanced at it. The familiar warmth rushed to his heart and activated the magic to Darks DNA. He grew taller and his clothes became a larger size, his hair darkened to a deep purple that it was almost black and styled itself into Darks traditional haircut and when he opened his eyes, they were narrower and were a dark shade of violet.

'Yo'

All the flock, except Iggy stared in wonder.

'Oh my God' gaped Nudge.

Dark smiled pleasantly and winked at her, causing her to blush and Max frowned disapprovingly at Dark's playboy antics.

'Hi, my name is Dark Mousy formally known as the Phantom Thief and I'm Daisuke's other half. Nice to meet ya' his baritone voice was like smooth chocolate and it was making Nudge melt as she smiled sweetly at him.

'Other half?'

'Just what are you exactly?' demanded Max.

'My, my, feisty aren't you' Dark flashed her a smile and ignored her glare, 'well, long story put short. About 300 years ago the Hiwatari family created the ultimate art work called the Koku Yoku, translated, means Black Wings. The Niwa's were the Hiwatari's enemies as they stole the Hiwatari artworks. Each artwork has a certain amount of magic within it, created from the determination and feelings of the artist. The Koku Yoku had a lot of magic dwelling within it and when the two families fought over its possession, I was born and engrafted into the Niwa's DNA. Since then in every male generation when they turn 14 I awake to fulfill the Niwa tradition of stealing Hiwatari artwork and suppress their magic.'

'So you're not human then, you're some sort of magical being?' asked Iggy.

'That's quite a good description actually, I like it. Magical being, that's much better than living piece of artwork' Dark smiled.

'Daisuke says, don't boost his ego Iggy' stated Angel.

'Ok, so you're this phantom thief. Do you steal anything else other than art? I mean like banks or expensive jewelry or something. Art is just plain boring in my opinion.' asked Gassy curiously.

Dark chuckled, 'When you're dealing with art works as such that I steal, there is always a surprise waiting for me, besides, art has the highest security and it gets even tougher since I always send a note out saying where I'm going to strike next.'

'That's a really dumb idea, cause they prepare for you in advance' said Iggy frowning.

'It just makes it all the more exciting, besides not once in 300 years have they ever caught me. That's why I'm a legend.'

'You can watch him tonight if you like and see for yourself' said Emiko enthusiastically.

'Daisuke says can we change the subject' said Angel

'Tsk Daisuke stop getting jealous'

'_I'm not jealous! But we are getting off track here, what is it about them that makes them vital for saving the world? Heck, what's going to make the world end in the first place?'_

Angel voiced Daisuke's thoughts and Dark waited expectantly.

'They're genetically enhanced humans' answered Jeb

'Enhanced in what way?' pushed Daichii.

'We have a cocktail of Avian and Human DNA' replied Max

'Avian?'

'Bird'

'So what about you besides the whole mind reading thing that makes you different from other humans?' Dark inquired.

'Well, for starters we have wings,' said Nudge shyly

Dark cocked an eyebrow 'Can I see them?'

'Only if we can see yours' challenged Gassy.

'Sounds fair, only my wings are currently asleep on your lap' he said to Angel smiling.

Looking down Angel looked upon a snoozing Wiz on her lap. She gave him a poke and he stirred, head bent back he locked his big red eyes with Angels sky blue ones and he rolled over waiting to have his tummy tickled.

'That thing is your wings?' Max said unbelievingly.

'Yup, cute isn't he, his name's Wiz' said Dark

Wiz ears perked up at the sound of his name, 'Kyuu?' he jumped off Angel and jumped onto Darks lap, who started scratching him behind the ears and he kyu-ed approvingly.

'Wiz isn't a pet; he has thoughts and feelings like everyone else and has been my friend and companion for many years' Dark smiled fondly at Wiz. 'I am grateful to the Niwa's for looking after him when I'm dormant; he has a tendency to get into trouble'

Wiz growled, annoyed and Dark just laughed. He stood up and placed Wiz on his shoulder.

'Ikimas Wiz'

'Kyu!'

The next second Wiz turned pitch black and attached himself onto Dark's back. He then seemed to explode out wards to each side and then he stilled and formed feathers, completing the wings.

Dark then folded them and turned to Nudge who couldn't take her eyes of him. When their eyes locked she quickly turned away and blushed. Dark smiled at her shy demeanor.

'Nudge isn't it? Would you show me your wings?'

Nudge's face became a deeper shade of pink but complied; she took off her jacket to make it easier for her and slowly pushed the top of her wings through the slits of her top. Pulling them out fully she extended her chocolate coloured wings to show their full 8ft wing span. Dark stared at them in awe; they were far more beautiful than his wings will ever be. Nudge's feathers were neatly preened and had a glossy shine that no doubt would make her wings glow in the sun shine. Dark's wings were spit and ruffled and were dull to any source of light and in all the time that Dark has existed, he doesn't recall ever flying during the day time. Dark put that on his to do list for when he gets his free time. In a way, dull feathers make it easier to avoid attention from spot lights but Dark couldn't help but feel envious. A small smile graced his eyes and lips and Nudge pulled her wings behind her self consciously.

'Beautiful' he whispered sincerely, 'You are truly beautiful Nudge.'

'Daisuke says stop flirting' warned Angel

'I am not! Am I not allowed to complement ones physical aspects even when they are as heavenly unique as this?' Dark argued annoyed, 'Honestly Daisuke it's because you don't have the guts to voice your feelings on these matters is why you can't even win Risa's heart.'

'_Leave her out of this!'_

Dark winced but persisted. 'That's fact Dai-chan, you haven't even got the guts to tell the girl to her face that you like her, as obvious as it is, she's completely oblivious to your feelings,'

'_This is completely irrelevant to the matter at hand'_

'You started it!'

'_You were the one who was flirting!' _

'I was not! Why do you jump to that conclusion whenever I'm trying to be nice and they just happen to be female?'

'_Because when you do take it seriously, they get hurt, you should know that for a fact because that's what happened between you and Rika!'_

Dark froze, and his heart clenched painfully at the mentioning of Rika's name. A pained expression marled his features and he closed his eyes to prevent everyone seeing the pain in his eyes. Suddenly Dark glowed and then Daisuke was standing in his place.

'Eh? Dark?' Daisuke blinked confused and a tear ran down his cheek, 'Dark was crying?'

'Really, the pair of you bicker like real siblings but I'm shocked at you Daisuke. You should have known how Dark would react to mentioning his past, he trusted you when he told you about it but for you to use it against him like that,' Emiko shook her head, 'to be honest Dark is no better for bringing up your failed love life but that doesn't mean you should stoop to his level.'

'Even we don't do that,' said Nudge disapprovingly at Daisuke.

With Dark withdrawing, Wiz transformed back into his fuzzy form and landed on the couch, he too was giving Daisuke an angry glare. Daisuke was ashamed and lowered his head, there wasn't much he could do to apologise right now as Dark had cut of their mental connection, which was like a brick wall separating them. Daisuke would let him have his space for now and try to talk to him later, they had a job to do in a couple of hours. He slumped onto the couch, narrowly avoiding Wiz who jumped off and leapt back onto Angels lap.

Emiko sighed but then put on a cheerful face, 'Your wings are so _kawaii_ Nudge-chan and the colour really goes with your eyes,' she said as though they were discussing clothes.

After Emiko begged to see everyone else's wings they eventually got onto the subject of Itex. The main base was somewhere in Italy but they weren't sure where and Max was determined not to go looking for it until they found Fang. An agreement was made that the adults, Dr. Martinez, Jeb, Emiko and Daichii would research into the location of the Itex base while the children/teenagers would look for Fang. Daisuke thought maybe he could get Hiwatari-kun to help, since he is brilliant with information and computers. Soon it was coming to the appointed time and Dark had yet to unblock the connection.

'Dark?' Daisuke pushed at the barrier with no anvil. He tried again but harder. Then he hit it with his feeble fists. 'Oh come on Dark! It's almost time! I can't pull it off by myself!'

Daisuke knew that Dark couldn't hear him but the barrier blocked not only Dark's voice but his spiritual presence as well. Daisuke was not used to the cold feeling of being cut off like this, even when Dark was asleep or ignoring him he could feel Dark's presence like a warm blanket. He could feel Dark's emotions sweep over him when ever he was amused, annoyed, angry, sad and he reacted to Daisuke's feelings as much as Daisuke reacted to his. Not being able to feel what his feeling right now, he felt alone and hadn't realised just how much he had adapted and depended on Dark's consciousness. Daisuke gave up slamming into it and turned around to lean against it. He didn't know what to do; he was actually scared that Dark would never bring this barrier down. Suddenly a door opened some distance away from him just floating in mid air and an angel came through…wait a minute it _was_ Angel. Angel looked around, eyes settling on him and she floated towards him. Daisuke was staring at her as though she'd grown an extra head.

'Hey Daisuki!' she squealed.

Daisuke winced at the high pitch and wrong pronunciation of his name. By the fact that she had no idea what she was saying since she doesn't know Japanese, he would be blushing right now. Just that slight difference in ending gives the name an entirely different meaning. For those who don't know, 'Daisuki' means to really like.

'How did you get in here?' Daisuke asked.

'You were spaced out for a loooooong time and your mum is getting worried about you…she was also screaming 'He's going to be late! He's going to be late!' so what's up?'

After Daisuke managed to process Angel's words he sighed and hit the wall behind him, showing her the solidity of it.

'Dark isn't talking to me, nor can he hear me with this thing up.'

'Then why don't you just create a door in it?'

'A door?'

'Yeah a door, when I first discovered that I could control peoples minds I sometimes found stuff like this stopping me from going in, so I just imagined a door there and via la!'

Daisuke pushed himself away and stared at the invisible wall, 'Imagine a door huh? Is that how you got in here?'

Angel made an affirmative noise. Daisuke tried to imagine a door there and to his surprise, one did appear. He reached forward and turned the handle and the door creaked inwards. Darks consciousness swept in making Daisuke sigh in relief.

'Arigato Angel.'

'Huh?' confused.

'Thank you,' he smiled, she grinned back and headed for the door she came in earlier.

'Just wake up soon ok!' then she was gone.

Daisuke hesitantly stepped through the doorway, he felt Dark's emotions of sorrow, love and hurt pierce him to the core. He felt tears prickling at his eyes at the strong emotions but not as overwhelming as the guilt from himself. He looked around at the picturesque scene that was shielded from him by the barrier. It was the centre of town Daisuke realised; this must be one of Dark's memories. It was night time and the area was filled with couples and children dressed warmly in old fashioned clothing. In the centre was a huge Christmas tree beautifully decorated with lights, tinsel and had a fine layer of snow on the upper braches. Daisuke noticed there was a ring of people around the tree who were singing carols and at the edge of the street where wagons that were selling hot nuts and other Christmas foods that left spices lingering in the air and were making Daisuke's mouth water. Stepping into the crowd he began his search for Dark, he soon realised that he made no impact to the people around him as one man walked directly at him but went right through him. Daisuke shook his head to get over the shock and continued his search. Dark didn't seem to be in the crowd so where was he? Daisuke smacked himself in the head. Duh! He's the phantom thief! He isn't just going to waltz around in public! Ok Daisuke, think! If you were a phantom thief, where would you be...?

…on the roof?

At that thought, Daisuke looked up and scanned the roof tops for any signs of a certain dark angel. To Daisuke's surprise, that was exactly where he was. Further down the street just a little distance from the festive area with his back to it, was Dark, clearly focused on something just around the corner. Daisuke thought how the heck he was supposed to reach him, when he remembered when Angel just floated without using her pure white wings. This was his mind after all…well sorta partially his mind, so surely he could do just about any thing in it right? Visualising himself lighter than air, Daisuke found himself heads above everyone else as he glided effortlessly upwards. He then steered his way over to Dark. That was quite easy actually, thought Daisuke. He landed a few feet away from Dark and walked towards his seated figure, he still had his back to him, with his upper body leaning against his knees and was staring into the street below him. Daisuke was close enough to peer over his shoulder and see that Dark was observing a couple down below. The couple were quite young either in there late teens or early twenties, the man was fairly handsome with dark brown hair and was smartly dressed. He was smiling at the woman in his arms and she was smiling back. She had long brown hair with a straight cut fringe and some side bangs that framed her face, she had partially done up her hair and it was tied up in a pink bow. Similar to how Risa does her hair, Daisuke thought, and then it hit him.

'Who's that with Rika?' Daisuke suddenly blurted.

Dark jumped 10ft into the air while yelling. Daisuke reacted likewise. Once Dark had comprehended just who was behind him he gawped at Daisuke unbelievably.

'D-D-Daisuke! W-What are you doing here!' Dark said in a high voice.

Daisuke blinked at how ruffled Dark was, 'What do you think?' he said as though stating the obvious. After a few moments Dark got over his shock and got his voice back, and he was pretty angry.

'I put that barrier up for a reason you know'

'And I came through it for a reason, so before you explode on me for intruding, hear me out,' reasoned Daisuke, trying to calm Dark down.

Dark sat himself down again, a scowl still evident on his face with his eyes set on Daisuke waiting for him to continue. Daisuke let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and rubbed the back of his head nervously, he didn't like the fact that he was the source of Dark's anger and his glare wasn't helping. Daisuke turned his eyes away from Dark to look at something else and his gaze homed on the couple in the street, oblivious to the commotion that had happened a moment ago. He took a deep breath and faced Dark again.

'I love you'

Both Dark and Daisuke looked back to the couple still smiling at each other. Rika had tears of happiness in hear eyes and cupped the man's cheek in her hand.

'I love you too' she replied. Then the man leaned his head down to kiss her.

Daisuke swiftly turned his head away blushing; this is really insensitive to be hanging around when someone is having a private moment, thought Daisuke. But then he looked at Dark who was still fixed on the couple with hurt in his eyes. Oh yeah, that's his Rika who's proclaiming her love for someone else. He quickly glanced back at the couple who had broken the kiss and began to walk arm in arm towards the town centre.

'Do you know who that was…the man she's with?' Daisuke asked carefully.

Dark sighed, all anger that he had before was lost in that moment and replaced with longing and hurt.

'He will soon be her husband and father to her daughter, who will be the mother of Riku and Risa Harada.' He replied simply. 'I'm glad that she found someone else she could love.'

Dark had his back to him again when he watched the couple. Daisuke felt horrible, he hated himself for being selfish and not being considerate to Dark's feelings, but sometimes Dark made it so hard when he boasts about and plays around with his own feelings! Then he's the one being selfish and inconsiderate. Daisuke blinked as it occurred to him that he and Dark weren't so different. He smiled at that; they were really two halves after all, the same yet completely different. Daisuke blinked again, that doesn't make any sense! Daisuke abandoned his musing to face his current problem. Focusing on Dark again brought back his guilt and before he knew it he had walked forward wrapped his arms around his neck and hugged him. Dark stiffened when suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and a warm body pressed against his back.

'Daisuke…what…?' Dark said surprised.

'I'm sorry'

Dark turned his head to stare at the guilty redhead, not considering how close their faces were. Daisuke, being the pure innocent teenager that he was, did. Releasing Dark from his arms, he jumped back a few feet and began to blush profoundly. Looking at anything besides Dark, Daisuke coughed excusably while getting his nerve back.

'I…err…I shouldn't have said the things I did and I'm very sorry now please forgive me so my mother won't skin me alive for being late for the theft tonight.' Daisuke mumbled quickly.

Dark just stared at him bewildered. He had not expected the affectionate actions that Daisuke just did. When he put the few words that he heard together and took in Daisuke's rather flustered expression, he burst out laughing.

'W-What's so funny!' exclaimed Daisuke angrily.

'You'

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**Ha! I wonder how many of you thought Daisuke was proclaiming his love for Dark just then! Admit it! Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Oh my frickin' gosh I have 19 reviews! I am really HAPPY! Anyway some of the reviews have commented on how fast I'm getting these up. I'd just like to let you know that it's not because I'm a fast writer, it's more of I've been working on this for a while and I've only recently got onto fanfiction and up loaded the damn thing, BUT I am now motivated to write as much as possible in my free time. So stick with me, it's not over yet!**

**I'd like to give thanks to Mayu Jun, Jisa, Akemi Tsuki Hikari, crimson angel3579 and Phantom Thief Angel who have given me reviews so far. The rest of you WHY HAVEN'T YOU REVIEWED!! Heres chapter 10. Enjoy peeps.**

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Parked not to far from a large, old cobbled wall was a common like van. What made it uncommon was that it was completely black and had the best surveillance system installed in the back. At the wheel was the driver, who was wearing a police uniform and waiting patiently for orders from the young commander in the back.

Satoshi was observing the compound through the television screens that took up one side of the van and tapping a button now and again to switch to another camera. The gardens which cameras had been strategically placed around, was silent and empty; apart from the police officers that were patrolling the grounds. At least four cameras were focused on the statue in the centre.

The statue was of the great Greek God Poseidon, dressed in a simple robe and had his hand raised in the air with his triton within his grasp. The triton was made out of metal which was painted gold and silver. On the triton blade, just below the middle fork was a dark blue jewel which is rumoured to be made of sapphire. Carved into the jewel surface was a spiral like pattern which is said to glow on nights when the moon is full. This is the artefact that Dark warned he would obtain, called 'The Eye of the Sea.'

Satoshi checked his watch, noting there was 10 minutes to go before the appointed time.

'You seem tense' said a voice from the shadows.

Satoshi smirked and turned to address the speaker.

'After countless failed attempts to capture Dark and having my father down my neck each time, you would be too'

'Hmmm'

Fang moved forward from his dark corner and became illuminated by the monitor screens.

'But if you've had so many failed attempts to catch him then why don't you put the treasure in a highly guarded safe or something'

'Dark would find ways to break into that, believe me, we've tried. We've even tried switching the target with a fake but he managed to find and steal the real one. Also some of these treasures are immovable, like this one.'

'If it's immovable then how the heck is Dark going to get it?'

'Most likely he'll take the whole trident by breaking off the arm, unlike us; he has no worry of damaging private property.'

'Sounds reckless'

'His middle name is reckless'

Meanwhile…

'Achooooo!'

'_Dark! Be quiet you'll give us away_!'

'It's not my fault someone's talking about me'

Already breeching the security undetected, Dark was crouched inside the building attached to the Gardens and couldn't wait to announce his presence and steal the artifact under Creepy boy Commander's nose…again.

'_Are you sure this is the right room? Check the blueprints again'_

'I'm sure this is the right room Daisuke' said Dark irritated 'Ah ha! What did I tell you?' Dark kicked away the expensive looking rug carelessly and uncovered the square shaped trapdoor beneath. Dark grinned mischievously; this will be one of the most fun thefts yet and it's even more special as their new winged friends are watching just outside the gates.

Just outside, there were calls and yells of excitement. Dark smiled.

'Looks like With is doing his part, now it's time to do mine,' and with that, he flipped the trapdoor open and jumped in.

As soon as Dark had been spotted, Satoshi shouted some commands and turned to exit the vehicle.

'Stay here' he said to Fang and unlocked the steel doors and ran to his position, unwisely leaving one of them wide open.

Fang sighed and watched the commotion outside from the several screens occupying the van's side. Bored he tapped one of the buttons Satoshi was using earlier to change cameras. After viewing several viewpoints his finger froze over the button. The screen was displaying a downwards view of the temple like building that was there for authentic purposes. At the edge of the screen, Fang could see the columns that held the roof up, but that was not what Fang was focused on. Narrowing his eyes, he watched as one of the slabs of stone in the floor slowly lift itself from place and slid to the side. Suddenly a dark figure jumped up from the hole and landed cat-like on the floor. As he rose to stand Fang could clearly see the smug smirk on the figure's face and Fang took a moment to drink in the young males features.

'So this is my infamous look-a-like' Fang thought. He had to agree that their appearances are similar, but there is no way Fang would be seen dead with that hair cut. Just how much gel had that guy used to get his hair like that? Fang grimaced. Well no doubt the guy is smarter than he looks, if this is the real one then that one flying must be a decoy. Fang wondered if Satoshi was aware of this and wondered if he should go out and tell him. Wanting to escape from this giant sardine can and deciding he needed some fresh air anyway, he was just about to turn from the screens when something had him entirely hooked to one of the screens. Making sure he wasn't seeing things, he zoomed in to enlarge it. With absolute certainty Fang bolted from his seat and out the van, completely forgetting about the drug that will shortly cause him to collapse, he raced around the wall, ignoring the shouts from the driver and heading to the front gates, to freedom…to Max.

Dark strolled his way towards the statue, with With keeping the police and creepy boy occupied there was no one to stop him from claiming his prize. Although Dark was a little disappointed at the lack of resistance, he could only blame himself for coming up with the stealthy plan.

'_You should be glad that there's no one around, we've had enough close calls to last me a life time' _Daisuke complained.

'Humph, I've been around for several lifetimes and I never tire of it' Dark retorted.

Before Daisuke could reply, Dark whipped out a feather and summoned his magic causing the feather to glow an eerie blue. He cast the spell that would restrain the magic within the jewel so that it wouldn't react when he broke it free. When the light from the feather faded, he walked towards the stone figure and placed the feather on the fist holding the triton. It glowed brightly then suddenly the fist unclenched and let go of the triton. Dark caught it and brought it close to his face to examine the jewel. It glittered subtly, showing the wild magic trapped within. Dark turned to the statue which now had his hand open in a frozen wave or salute.

'Poseidon will no longer summon storms with of the 'Eye of the Sea,' and a good thing too. The last time it caused one, it flooded and I got sick of how much Daisuke complained when Emiko made him bucket the water out the basement.'

Dark turned to where lights were searching the skies for his little partner.

'Well it's time to go home. With!'

At his calling, With suddenly appeared as a black blur and attached himself to Dark's back and lifted him into the air with one beat of his wings.

Satoshi waited until Dark's decoy finally disappeared. That meant that Dark has the 'Eye of the Sea' and was making his get away.

'_You're going to be in soooooo much trouble my little Toshi-chan, you let Dark get away on purpose didn't you?' _Krad said spitefully.

'And what if I did?' Satoshi mentally replied.

'_This means that not only are you going to get it from your father, but you will also have me to deal with, if I had known you were simply going to sit idly by I would have taken control and dealt with Dark myself. You're really going to get it for making me miss my chance.'_

Satoshi ignored him and proceeded to return to the van. As he got there, the driver was in a bit of a panic and when he saw the commander, he ran up to him and announced that Fang was gone. Satoshi was shocked, he didn't think that Fang would betray his trust like that, but he had no time to worry about that as Krad was fighting furiously to get out. And Satoshi knew the root of his anger.

'Krad! Stop it! I'll find him!' Satoshi pleaded desperately.

'_You had your chance Satoshi. I'll find him and when I do, I'm going to take ALL my anger out on him. How does that sound?'_

Satoshi couldn't reply as he was painfully ripped from his consciousness and thrown to the darkness that awaited him.

'That's it? This is what we came to freeze our butts off for?' whined an unhappy Gassy.

'I got to admit, I was not impressed,' I commented.

Ok, so it was fast yes, I will praise him for that. But the fact is, when you're standing on the sidelines, you can't see squat. Dark said we'd see something good. Well apart from him flying above our heads, there was nothing spectacular about it.

'He's not really that good at flying is he?' said Angel beside me.

No, he wasn't. His flying is just a mess! We fly much better than that and we can fly synchronized too.

'Can we go now?' asked Iggy. This probably was a waste of time for him.

'Sure,'

We turned our backs to the gardens and we only took a few steps when Iggy froze and whizzed around again.

'Iggy what's up?' I said seriously. Are we being attacked by fly boys again? But then I heard it too.

'Max'

I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes. Fang was 30 meters away and looked as though he had run a marathon in a dead sprint.

'Fang!' I called and I ran to him, with the rest of the flock hot on my heels.

He didn't make any attempt to run to us and suddenly collapsed to his knees, breathing heavy. This made me run faster. When I reached him, I grabbed his shoulders and forced him into my arms, never wanting to let go.

'Oh Fang, I was so scared that something had happened to you. What happened?'

I finally released him and gave him room to breathe. He was still breathing heavily and was relying on me to keep him upright from our kneeling position.

'Are you Ok Fang' said Angel timidly. Her eyes were wide as saucers and watery with happy tears.

Fang got partially his breath back as he started to speak.

'You're…not…cryin'…over…me…are you?' he said breathlessly.

I couldn't help but smile, that's our Fang.

'Still acting the tough guy, eh Fnick?' smirked Iggy.

Fang rolled his eyes as he continued panting. His warm breath tickled my skin and hair, reassuring me that he is real and here with me and the flock.

'We'd best get you to our safe house'

Suddenly Fang tensed and absolute panic was written all over is face.

'Fang, what's wrong?!'

'Go. Go now!'

'What are you talking about!'

'Leave me. You have to go, run, fly anything just get out of here!'

'I'm not leaving here without you!'

'You needn't worry about that'

I looked up to see a tall intimidating figure standing not to far from where we were kneeling. A shiver ran down my spine at the cruel glee dancing in those evil golden orbs. His teeth were bared in a malicious grin and I swear his canines were longer than normal or that could just be me. He had incredibly long golden hair tied in a high ponytail that almost reached the ground and oddly enough he had one long strand of hair amongst his fringe which separated his face down the middle. He was dressed in pure white but his presence and intentions spoke otherwise.

'You can just come with him'

Fang abruptly stood and placed himself in front of me as if to shield me. I saw a trickle of sweat run down Fangs neck and immediately knew that this guy was very dangerous. The man in white threw his head back and laughed wickedly.

'My my, you continue to amuse me Fang. To be honest I was very upset when I found that you had run away. It made me start to think that you didn't like me'

'I don't' Fang growled through his teeth.

'But that doesn't matter now, because now I get to meet the rest of your freakish little family and by the looks of things, they're just as pathetic as you'

I was shaking in anger. No one and I mean NO ONE speaks about my family like that…this guy…this guy is seriously ticking me off!

'You can't win against me Fang. What make you think they can stand a chance?'

'First off,' I barge in and step around Fang 'you can shut your trap about my family, secondly, we've been through hell and back and we always pull through, thirdly, we're at our strongest when we are all together and if my maths serves me right, you're heavily out numbered.'

The man chuckled, 'Please don't tell me you included those hatchlings.'

'Your first mistake is underestimating us. Your second is that you've pissed me off,'

'Max. Don't' Fang hissed.

Cackling laughter filled the air and echoed among the buildings and alleys, our super hearing could pick up the fading sound waves on the other side of the town. He eventually stopped and he smirked at me.

'You're such a feisty little wench aren't you? And you've got such beautiful fierce eyes. You've got quite a catch there' he said addressing Fang. 'Enough talk, I haven't got all night and I've got a cute little tamer who needs punishing'

He then reached into his jacket and drew out three white feathers, which left me quite confused. Suddenly Fang shouted.

'UP AND AWAY!! DON'T GET CLOSE TO HIM!'

We didn't need telling twice. 100ft above the ground I looked back to see the guy smiling, and that put me on edge a lot more than I already was. I was suddenly in shock when two white wings suddenly appeared. Holy mother of Jesus, he can fly! What's next Wendy, John and Michael come to play?

'Watch out Iggs! The woman-wanna-be has wings!' I called.

'Just for that, you're going down first!' the woman-wanna-be cried.

Several yellow glowing missiles come streaking towards me…very fast.

'Max!' I hear Fang cry.

I beat my wings down once, hard and fly up into sky at 200mph avoiding all yellow glowing UFOs and feeling smug at the gob smacked expression on the woman-wanna-be's face. But it was short lived as he suddenly broke into a smirk, he turned in midair not even beating his wings and faced off against Angel. Oh no! He was just trying to get me away from her! Stupid Max you should have seen it coming.

'So you're the little telepath,' he said to her. She had a look of complete concentration on her face when it suddenly changed to horror. She just tried controlling his mind.

'That little trick won't work on someone who is already in control of their mind!' He grinned and whipped out another feather which glowed brightly. Angel screamed, clutching her head and started falling.

'ANGEL!' I screamed.

The white angel was just about to grab her from the air when suddenly a dark blur caught her and swept her away from his reach.

'Yo Krad, long time no see,'

'Dark,' Krad growled.

'Hold this for me would ya Iggy?' said Dark, passing Angel into Iggy's arms.

'If you're looking for a fight Krad, then you should pick on someone your own size, like me' he said cocking his thumb at himself.

'Fine, if that's the way you want to play this, I'll just take you out first and then I'll deal with them,' Krad hissed.

Judging from the convo, these two knew each other and don't seem to be on the friendliest of terms. That was an understatement, this Krad guy looked absolutely livid. I quickly got the message round to get back to the ground; I had a feeling that things were just about to get ugly. No sooner than we were on solid ground there was a clash of crackling sound and a firework display of…I supposed was magic and the two angels were twisting and weaving through the attacks like an air born dance. I counted heads and realized that Fang was missing, again.

'Where's Fang?! Fang!'

'He's over here!' I heard Iggy shout and I rushed over to them.

Fang was on his side in the safety position that Iggy had put him in and Iggy's hands we're examining him. Fang was shaking violently and his wings were twitching like crazy. His breathing was no more but in short gasps, like he was winded.

'What wrong with him!' I asked hysterically.

'I don't know! I can't find anything physically wrong with him!' cried Iggy.

'Is he having a fit?' said a stricken Nudge.

'This isn't a fit' replied Iggy.

Suddenly the air above us became silent and I looked up to see Krad clutching his head in agony with his eyes clamped shut and teeth clenched. Dark was hovering cautiously close by and seemed reluctant to attack. Krad soon reopened his eyes to glare at him then he looked down towards us and utter fury crossed his face. More feathers appeared in his hand and he threw some towards Dark and then turned to us.

'Guys! Scatter!' I shouted.

More feathers rained down on us, hitting the ground violently and causing explosions to kick grit and dust into the air. I saw Fang tossed to the side and he still wasn't moving. Before I could get to him, a white streak shot down and grabbed Fang under one arm. His other held a feather which began to shine so brightly that I had to cover my eyes or risk blindness. When the light finally faded, Fang and Krad were no where to be seen.

* * *

We eventually got back to the house, even though it was absolutely freezing, none of us were that eager to embrace that cozy warmth that awaited us. Angel was still unconscious in my arms and I held her firmly against me as though afraid she would disappear like Fang did.

'Fang' I uttered silently.

There was no doubt about it now, Fang was being held captive by some powerful people and after seeing what we've seen tonight, were we strong enough to tackle this head on? This Krad guy is nothing like we've ever faced before. Heck I didn't even know magic existed until recently. Speaking of which, perhaps Dark could show us how to counter this magic.

Getting inside, we were confronted by a hysterical Emiko, who immediately dragged us into the living room and told me to lay Angel onto the futon covered sofa. I sat next to her unconscious form and stroked her beautiful golden locks that would make any Barbie doll jealous.

'What happened?!' Emiko questioned.

I couldn't find the voice to speak, so I let the rest of the guys do that for me. They retold what happened and I just drowned out the words and gave all my attention to my little Angel. 'Please wake up' I sent to her mentally. Her eyelids flicked and then just as quickly stilled. I cupped her small childlike face in my hand and stroked her cheek with my thumb, while my other hand grasped onto her slightly smaller one.

'Angel? Can you hear me sweetheart?' I said aloud and I got no response. I tried again mentally and her eyes flickered again.

'Mom! Can you give Angel a check over!?'

'What's wrong Max?' Dr Martinez asked worriedly.

'Angel can hear the thoughts I send her but she can't hear me out loud, and she's not sending any thoughts back' I said hysterically.

'That's impossible! How do you know she can hear your thoughts?' she asked, suddenly going into serious Doctor mode.

'Her eyes were fluttering,'

Dr Martinez must have sent a message to test it, because Angel's eyes flickered again.

'That is really strange, if she is conscious then she should hear us talking but she's making no response. Tell me, what exactly did Krad do to her?'

'He sealed her mind'

We all turned to Dark who was leaning against the wall, looking at Angel with a scrutinizing gaze.

'What?! What does that mean?!'

Dark pushed himself away from the wall and sat himself on the sofa opposite to Angel.

'It means that we have a tricky situation on our hands.' He said seriously. 'Krad has sealed Angel's mind so that she has no control over her body or her senses, a better description would be that he has turned her into an empty shell.'

'Oh my God' said Gassy, stricken.

'Poor Angel' cried Nudge.

'Is there anyway to help her? Can we do anything?' asked Dr Martinez.

Dark sighed and ran a hand through his crazy locks. I didn't take this as a good sign, and I could feel my heart beat race with dread and I kept swallowing the tears that threatened to flow, despite how much it hurt.

'We have two options,' he eventually said 'The first is very dangerous, there's a risk that we could permanently damage Angel's mental capacity. In the minor case, she could have memory loss. In the worse case…she could become brain dead.'

There was a shocked silence and the air suddenly became so heavy that I couldn't breathe. Dr Martinez broke the silence.

'How high is this risk?'

'60 percent,'

I drew a shaky breath; my baby could…could…could…

'And what's the other option?'

All eyes were on Dark, if the first option had a high risk then surely this one was better? Wasn't it?

'The second option is guarantied to bring her back,' there was a huge sigh of relief before the 'but' came in, 'but, we are on borrowed time, somehow we need to get one of Krad's feathers and that is the difficult task. Also, we would need to get it soon, because sooner or later her body's going to realize its mindless and start shutting down'

'That bastard!' I screamed, 'That heartless cowardly jackass! She's just a baby and yet he…' I was absolutely fuming; my dread had burned away and was replaced with deadly determination. I took a few calming breaths, weary of my flocks concern.

'Which option would you recommend Dark?' I asked calmly.

I was surprised when Dark was observing me with a smirk on his face.

'Well, my feisty friend, I think you've already made your decision, haven't you?'

I glared at him but didn't deny it.

'We go after Krad. And beat the shit out of him. Get the feather, get Fang and revive Angel. If worst comes to worst and Angel starts showing signs of deteriorating before we get it, we'll go with the first option and take the risk.'

'Spoken like a true leader' Dark smirked.

'You better believe it punk, and if you're with us then you better get used to it.'

'Get used to it?' That wiped the smirk off his face.

'Welcome to the Maximum Ride gang, Dark' smirked Iggy

* * *

Fang grit his teeth so he didn't bite his tongue as the whip came lashing down and cutting his back open. Rivulets of blood flowed freely down his unclothed back, some making it around his sides and onto the steel table while the rest was soaked up by the black feathers of his wings. It was the same cross shaped table they have strapped him to each night, except this time he was face down and the table was tilted so it was almost upright. And this time they wanted blood. Another lash joined the red crisscross pattern forming on his back, but not once did he cry out or respond.

'That should be enough Krad,' Kei said calmly.

'No, it's not, my anger is far from being satisfied and I was so CLOSE!' Krad frustratingly jerked the whip again at Fang, and became more irritated by the lack of response.

'If you continue to do that, he'll fall unconscious and won't be able to have further punishment,' Kei continued calmly.

Krad threw one last hard lash with the bloody whip, and then threw it aside.

'If Dark hadn't stepped in I would have succeeded in catching those brats, even with Satoshi trying to screw everything up again.' Krad sneered through his teeth.

'It would seem that Dark is acquainted with them. That does make our goal a bit more difficult,' said Kei, resting his chin on his hand.

Fang eventually opened his tightly shut eyes, relieved that the pain was now constant and ignorable and not stabbing and random. His sight was blurry by the tears of pain he hadn't let spill, and as he blinked the liquid away, he became aware of a calculating gaze that no doubt belonged to Kei. Fang could almost hear the gears turning in his evil head.

'I will think over this, but I believe I already have an idea that will get Dark out the picture. Permanently.'

'And how, prey tell, are we going to do that?' Krad asked curiously.

'Patience, I need to examine it to make sure it's a solid plan. You have your fun while I sort it out.'

Kei turned to Fang and came up to him to whisper in his ear.

'I hope you plan to behave in future, because right now one of your little friends is dying and because she wasn't brought here immediately, her chance of surviving will decrease day by day. Only _we_ can treat her Fang, so if you want to save her and prevent the same misfortune from happening again, I suggest you obey me from now on.'

Kei turned away and left the now blood scented room. Fang was in an emotional turmoil, one of the flock is dying? NO! That can't be true! Kei was lying, he had to be. He said her, so it was one of the girls, I hope it wasn't Max…WHAT AM I THINKING! I don't want it to be any of them!

While Fang was mentally arguing with himself, Krad, now in a better mood walked purposely towards Fang with feather in hand. Fang wasn't even aware of his presence or the glowing feather in front of his face before he was thrown into the depths of his mind once again.

* * *

**Phew, this chapter has a lot in it. I'm working on the next one so as long as I get plenty of reviews and creativity I should get the next one up asap. REVIEW!!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! Loyal readers! I'm sooo sorry it took longer than I said it would to upload this. It was my birthday last weekend and so I was busy. I also had a homework/coursework overload and I had deadlines.**

**Thanks again to Jisa and Mayu Jun who have reviewed on every chapter (BIG THANKS), Phantom thief angel and Jamica. Reviews from other people are welcome too. Heres chap 11, it another long one so Enjoy!**

* * *

Daisuke woke up to find Wiz snoozing on his pillow, his paws twitching unconsciously while dreaming. Daisuke smiled at him and then turned over and saw the first peek of sunshine filtering through the gap in his curtains…wait a minute. Sunshine? Daisuke peered down to see his digital clock reading a time that told him he was going to be veeeeery late for school.

'Gaaaaaaaa!'

Daisuke literally jumped out of bed, rushed into his bathroom, had a quick wash from the basin, rushed back into his room, got changed into his uniform and ran down the stairs like they weren't even there. As he ran into the living room, he saw Max and co already up or just waking up out the corner of his eye before skidding to a halt in front of the toaster waiting for it to pop up when…nothing happened. He looked inside to see that no bread had been put in. His mother was just behind the kitchen counter holding several different utensils to prepare the mornings meal.

'Mom, where's my breakfast?'

Emiko looked baffled.

'I haven't made it yet Dai-chan, though I'm surprised to see you up this early'

'What are you talking about? I'm going to be late for school!' Daisuke whined.

'But you haven't got school today Dai-chan, its Saturday.'

'…'

'Dai-chan? Daisuke!' Emiko called, waving a hand in front of her son's blank face.

Slightly later on, after Daisuke got over his shock, everyone except Daichii, who was still asleep (lazy bum) was eating another of Emiko's improvised American breakfasts, which this morning was eggs, bacon and muffins.

'I have a feeling that you guys are going to protest at this, but I think today you should just spend the day having fun,' suggested Emiko

Indeed, there was a round of protesting, mostly on Max's part but Emiko waved them off.

'Hear me out. Now, I know you're worried about Fang and Angel, but this worry isn't good for you, especially at your age. I just want you to spend the day working off that stress and then come home refreshed and revitalized with a clear head to think things out rationally.'

'Refreshed and revitalized?' commented Daisuke 'You got that off a washing up advert, didn't you?'

'What's wrong with getting inspiration from adverts? Every little helps Dai-chan'

'I think Emiko is right,' joined Dr Martinez 'You kids have been working really hard and you deserve a break.'

'But Angel can't wait! She is possibly dying right now. We don't have time to be sitting here doing nothing!'

'Max,' Jeb cut in authoritively, 'for once, do as you're told'

Max stared at him stunned, Jeb had never used that tone of voice with her before. Jeb began speaking again, but this time he was back to his gentle and affectionate manner.

'You need to calm down. Getting hysterical isn't going to help Angel or Fang. And I agree with Mrs. Niwa, a day to clear your head would be beneficial to keep your instincts and mind sharp.'

'_So not only can you save Angel and Fang but you can save the world.'_

Max glared at him and returned to her food, stuffing as much as possible into her mouth and helping herself to seconds…and thirds. Max was not happy at all.

'I'm done' she said, and excused herself to slunk off into the living room.

'So am I' said Daisuke.

'Where are you going Dai-chan?'

'Back to bed'

Three adults and three bird kids were left at the table, and continued their meals in an awkward silence. They joined Max in the living room, who was laying half asleep on the sofa with her arms around Angel and planned what they would do for the day.

'So…what _do_ you kids want to do today?'

'Dunno, duncare' said Max halfheartedly.

'What is there to do around here?' asked Iggy.

'Well there's the cinema…'

'Nothing's on' butt in Max

'The beach…'

'Too cold'

'The art museums…'

'Boring'

'The arcade?'

'And waste our money on computer games? I think not'

'Well, who got out of the wrong side of bed this morning?'

Dark had waited until Daisuke had drifted off before stealing control and changing into something a bit more flamboyant. From his side of the wardrobe, he grabbed a pair of black trousers with white pinstripes, a shiny violet silk shirt and donned a dark grey flat cap upon his head, not at all taming the wild locks that struck out at odd angles.

He crept downstairs and headed towards the living room where a moody Max and a downtrodden Emiko were engaged in a one sided debate. When he spoke all eyes were on him and he got a whole different range of reactions to his presence. Emiko, of course squealed and commented on his outfit, Dr Martinez, not sure how to greet him, didn't do anything. Jeb did the same, only he did nothing out of disinterest. Gassy gave him a once over and began describing his outfit to Iggy, who snorted. Nudge had an adorable pink shade staining her cheeks and suddenly found the floor very interesting. Max looked over her shoulder to glance at him and gave him a distasteful look. Whether it was from his comment or his appearance, he wasn't sure.

'I'm going to go out today, don't have a clue what I'm going to do, but its better than moping around here. Any of you willing to join me?'

'Sure, being around Max when she's in a mood isn't exactly fun,' said Gassy who stuck his tongue out at Max when she glared at him.

Iggy shrugged an affirmative.

'I'll go too' said Nudge shyly.

'Brilliant! You coming too Max?' No response.

'Suit yourself'

Dark walked out with the majority of Max's flock trailing behind him and Max stayed where she was, holding Angel in her arms like a life line. The adults eventually left too, Max vaguely remembered Emiko saying something about not letting the kids have all the fun and with some fleeting unsure glances from Dr Martinez and Jeb. They too, left the house.

Max was unsure of herself at that moment. Was this really the best thing to do right now? Did the adults _really_ know what was best? In Max's opinion, it was stupid to even be thinking of having fun when these things were happening and with her Angel showing no sign of waking up. Its plain selfish! Even though Angel still has a week to live, even though we have no idea where Fang is being held…even though there is nothing they can do for them right at this moment …was it selfish of _her_ to deny her flock a break?

She wasn't the best leader in the world and she surely wasn't their mother, but she did her best to keep everyone in line and make sure they are safe. This felt like one of those frustrating, self analysis tests that Jeb had put her and her flock through, just to find out if we were fit enough to meet their expectations. Is this another one of those tests? Or was she downright paranoid.

Despite Max's anger towards herself and Jeb, Max had never felt so powerless and helpless in her entire 14 nearly 15 year old life. Not even any of their so called powers were of any use at the moment.

Max let the tears flow, while no one was around to see them. These tears she had been holding back for days as their situation just seems to be getting worse. Once the salty water ceased to flow and began to dry on her slightly tanned skin, she began to see sense in Emiko's seemingly ridiculous plan. Max felt really childish now; she had acted like a spoilt brat and had thrown a tantrum when she didn't get her way. Max blamed it on relying too much on the Niwas over the time they've spent here.

The whistling songs of the birds were calling to her to come outside and the stuffy air and urge to fly was convincing her to do so. She looked down upon Angel's peaceful face and could hear the slightly slower than normal steady heart beat, which was the only physical symptom that Angel was alive. Max didn't want to leave Angel here by herself so making a quick decision, which she was sure Dr Martinez will be scolding her for later, grabbed a thick blanket, wrapped Angel like a cocoon and headed out the door.

* * *

'Where exactly are we going Dark?' asked Gassy

'No where in particular. I'm just going wherever my feet take me,' replied Dark.

'Oooooookaaaaay,' said Gassy doubtfully.

'Do you usually go off by yourself when Daisuke is sleeping?' asked Nudge timidly, unsure whether it was a personal question or not…apparently not.

'Nah, usually I only come out for the thieving or when Daisuke gets us in serious trouble. We try not to make it a custom of changing in front of people. It makes things complicated'

'What would you do if you did change in front of someone?' asked Iggy

'I would have to erase their memories' Dark stated simply.

'Would you have to erase ours?!' Nudge asked worriedly.

'Nope,' Dark stopped to address Nudge 'because I know I can trust you to keep it a secret,' Dark smiled.

Nudge's cheeks once again, were glowing a light shade of pink.

Dark turned to continue their journey to 'no where in particular.'

'Going back on what you said before. Why are you out now? Since you're not stealing anything or in any danger?' inquired Iggy.

Dark chuckled, 'Me and Daisuke have come to a bit of an arrangement. If I follow certain conditions then I am allowed to borrow Daisuke's body.'

'Borrow his body?! That just sounds…wrong!' exclaimed Gassy.

Dark laughed at that, 'My, my Gassy, you've got a dirty mind if you think about it like that.'

Iggy snickered and Gassy's ears were becoming red with embarrassment. Nothing was said for a while, but as they walked the density of buildings thinned, and they found them selves in a wide clearing with a few trees scattered about and several park benches. So obviously it was a Park area.

'Let's rest here a bit' declared Dark.

'But I'm not even tired yet,' complained Gassy.

'Patience, little pigeon. We'll get moving soon enough,'

'PIGEON!!' cried Gassy.

'Keep it down, pigeon. No need to rustle your feathers' smirked Iggy

'Oh, speak for yourself you over grown bat!'

'Bat? Is that the best you could come up with?'

'You're blind and old. So it best describes you'

'I'm not old!'

'You're older than me'

Throughout the bickering Nudge took a seat besides Dark and watched them. It was amusing to say the least but very immature. Eventually Gassy said something offensive enough to get a blind swipe to the head and was running away to prevent getting hit. Nudge thought they were going a bit too far away now and rose from her seat to go get them but Dark stopped her.

'Leave them be, it's not like they're going to kill each other'

Nudge snorted 'It's the people around them who are more likely to get hurt, besides, we really don't want to draw to much attention to ourselves and I don't want us to be separated incase something happens. If Max were here they wouldn't have gotten that far in the first place.'

'You guys rely a lot on Max, don't you?' Dark said gently.

Nudge was still standing and wrapped her arms about herself to fight the chill.

'Max has always taken care of us. Even as children, she put all problems and worries on her shoulders and never lets us help her to carry that burden…well except for Fang, he seems to be the only one who can see through her charade when she's struggling'

'So you guys have been together a long time'

'Yeah, for as long as I can remember actually, we were all sent to the same place and,' Nudge suddenly shivered and quickly changed the subject, 'we'd better go get the guys before we completely lose them.'

She took off in the direction Iggy and Gassy were seen last and Dark got up to follow her. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of hell these kids have been through, hellish no doubt, they even stood up to Krad for heavens sake and he's the worst demon around.

When they finally caught up to them, they were no longer fighting but playing blind man's bluff and guess who was the blind man. When Gassy saw them coming over he immediately stopped the game.

'Are we going now? Gassy griped.

Dark chuckled but shook his head no, Dark had a feeling that if they waited, a certain someone would show up. Gassy was opening his mouth to protest when Nudge butted in.

'Guys! Don't run off like that! We should stick together so we don't lose each other,' ordered Nudge

'Who made you the boss?' pouted Gassy.

'I did, since you two are still acting like 5 year olds.'

'You know she is starting to act like someone I know,' Iggy said to Gassy smirking. Gassy got the message.

'Yeah, I think I know someone too…but who else do we know who is bossy…?

'Demanding…,' emphasized Iggy

'Loud…,'

'Deafening…,'

'easily angered…'

'Has the temper of a crazed bull and is undoubtedly female…'

'And I know two sexist pigs who are about to be slaughtered and reduced to bacon!'

'Max!?'

Gassy and Iggy whirled around to come face to face with a very angry Max.

'After living with each other for who knows how long, I would have thought that I had got it into your heads that we stay together. You know the situation we're in. WE are _never_ safe, and I praise Nudge for behaving like an adult and taking some responsibility, unlike some birdbrains I know,'

'Yes Max' Gassy and Iggy said sheepishly.

'Oh my God! Max! Is that Angel?' Nudge said shocked.

In Max's arms was a securely wrapped Angel. She looked like the six year old she was at that moment, her face peacefully relaxed as though having an afternoon nap.

'Speaking of responsibility, should she really be taken outside the house as she is?' inquired Iggy.

Max unconsciously tightened her grip on the blankets and looked down guiltily, biting her lower lip.

'I didn't want to leave her alone in the house…' she said almost soundlessly. All Dark could hear was muttering but the flock with their super keen hearing heard every word, '…and I didn't want to be left alone…'

'What stopped you coming in the first place?' questioned an annoyed Gassy.

'Gassy, leave her alone,' scolded Nudge.

'But-ow!' Iggy hit him round the head before he said anymore.

Gassy finally got the drift that Max wasn't in the best of moods right now. Taking in her appearance, she looked fine, but there was evidence that she had been crying, her eyes were red and puffy and if you looked hard enough, you could see tear streaks on her cheeks and her smile seemed to last 3 seconds before it faltered. This Max was broken…and was trying hard to pick up the pieces.

'So…what trouble were you planning on getting my flock into today, Dark?' she asked.

'Me? Trouble? I think you have me mistaken for one of your brothers. I have no such thing planned,' he smiled.

'Sure you don't' Max joked.

'I'm offended' Dark said playfully, placing his hand above his heart and pretended to falter and using Nudge as support. Of course, Nudge squeaked and blushed at the contact.

'Ok, ok knock it off you love birds or we're leaving you behind, come on Iggs,' said Gassy.

'And, where are you going?' demanded Max.

'No where in particular' Gassy flashed Dark a knowing smile.

Dark got off of Nudge and offered her his arm like a gentleman, smiling playfully at her.

'My Lady, it appears we must make haste or else face the discourteous words of your impatient brethren, may I escort you to wherever they lead?'

Nudge giggled and shyly slipped her arm to link with Dark's and then Dark offered his other arm to Max.

'Will thy join us fair maiden?'

A faint blush appeared on Max's cheeks and a wolf whistle was heard from Gassy. After hearing that she forgot her embarrassment and stomped purposely over to Gassy, Angel in one arm and her free arm coming up to give him a whack around the head.

'I'm glad Max is mostly herself again' Nudge said affectionately.

After things had calmed down, they eventually headed out again. They had been walking for about half an hour when the path before them began to get steeper. Dark took the lead with Nudge still attached to his arm.

'Just where _are_ we going Dark?' Max demanded. She did not like the whole Dark's in charge scenario and she didn't like how obedient her flock was being towards him either.

'You'll see, I really think you'll like it,' he replied.

The steepness of the ground was gradually evening out again and the path started to bend to the right but Dark kept walking forward through the trees. Max narrowed her eyes and analysed the coming situation. Here on the path, we have room to spread our wings and fly out of here, those trees look fairly spaced out but we would have to do a lot of maneuvering because they weren't planted in straight lines, this was a natural woodland. The semi naked braches twisted and entwined to form a tangled mesh above them, which horribly reminded Max of the flyboy incident, when they used themselves as a net. They could easily fly through them but it would hurt, and with Angel in her arms she didn't have just herself to worry about.

Dark walked confidently, the beams of sunlight reflected off his dark locks, highlighting them an unmistakable purple which coordinated with his silk shirt. Max couldn't help but notice the similarities between him and Fang, they had similar hair colour, Fangs is darker but it still, like his wings, reflected a dark purple in the sunlight. Both their features were mature and handsome, but different in their own unique way. Dark was cheeky and had dimples from smiling so much, his skin was tanned and his eyes sparkled with mischief, he was cool and poised and had a fun personality that made him a great guy to hang with…and made the girls fall head over heals for, his flirty nature didn't help. Fang on the other hand was the complete opposite, his features were sharp and his skin was pale, his eyes were darker than the night sky and never reveled anything about himself. He was confined and rarely spoke, but had an air about him that said 'mess with me and you're dead' which in all aspects is true. Still, that 'untouchable' quality about him was also popular amongst the girls. But whenever he was with Max…he opened up to her, he smiled, protected her, comforted her and even, sometimes kissed her.

Max felt her heart constrict at the last part of her thoughts, whenever it came to her and Fang being…together, she had always been afraid. When he was near her, he stirred up feelings that she had never experienced before and those unfamiliar feelings frightened her. She always ended up pushing Fang away and she knows that it hurts him, even if he doesn't show it.

She was so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't realized they had stopped and they were clear of trees. Max's raised her eyes that had been glued to the floor previously and her breath caught in her throat as she took in the beautiful scenery before her. Long grass that reached only half way up her calf was bowing from the wind in waves and scattered among it were brightly coloured wild flowers that refused to bow and stand tall to catch the suns rays. Further ahead the land disappeared suddenly and exposed the brilliant blue waters of the sea which sparkled and winked with the forever moving waves.

A gust of wind blew into Max's face and hair, sweeping it back to flicker and dance with the rhythm of the grass (ha, it rhymes…sort of). She could smell the salt in the air and the cool brush of the wind was refreshing, since the trees blocked the breeze from reaching them on the path. She heard Nudge gasp and Gassy whoop before he was running to the middle of the clearing, dragging a protesting Iggy behind him.

'I thought you guys would like it,' commented Dark.

'It's beautiful' said Nudge.

'Hey guys! Come look at this!' called Gassy, his voice was faint as the wind took the sound with it, but even so, Gassy was jumping up and down and waving to get our attention.

When they reached him 150m from where they once stood, they found him peering over the edge of a steep cliff and directly below was a rocky beach which formed little rock pools and islands between the sand.

'Can we go there?!' Gassy asked excitedly.

'That's private property Gassy, there's no way from here to get there,' replied Dark.

It was true, the cliff jutted out on either side of the beach that formed natural breakwaters and you would have to swim quite dangerously out to sea just to get around them. Max smirked suspiciously.

'And since when has that ever stopped us,' Max grinned. 'If it's private property then nobody should be around to see us.'

Like a switch being switched on, every single one of the flock (excluding Angel) had a smile on their face and Dark was unsure of what they were thinking. At an unspoken signal Nudge had unwound herself from Darks arm and ran with the rest of the flock towards the cliff edge before jumping off it completely. Darks heart pounded in dread and he rushed to the cliff edge to look over the edge. He ended up gaping in awe at the sight. Max and her flock had formed an arrow-like formation and rose up with the on shore winds. Their wings stretched out and arched with the strength of the wind and their feathers gleamed in the sun. Gassy was like a dove with his still growing wings and soft feathers that were a brilliant pure white like his sister Angel. Nudge was mature and strong, with not one feather out of place and were a delicious chocolate brown. Iggy's were also well kept, only his were about a foot longer and were a pale blond colour with a tint of gingery orange. Max was mostly tan with light brown specks, like freckles, littering her primary feathers at the edge of her wings. They turned and dived in perfect synchronised movements, showing off their professional yet regularly practiced skills, not one of them got so much as a wing beat wrong, even the Iggy, who is blind, was in sync.

Dark wished he had this much control over his flying, heck he wanted nothing more than to summon his wings and be part of that perfection, but he knew that he would never keep up and this was something that only these kids could do, he would feel like he was invading something private if he just joined in. He settled for just watching, perhaps he could learn something from observing their movements.

Unexpectedly, Nudge broke formation and dived towards him and flew in wide circles above his head.

'Aren't you coming Dark?' she asked.

'You wouldn't mind if I joined in?'

'Heck no, why would we mind?' she asked confused.

'Wouldn't I be invading your space?'

'Only if you bump into us,' she replied with a smile, before taking off again to reform.

Dark felt anticipation fill his body and quickly summoned With and took off into the air. He wasn't sure how to do this; whenever he flew it was always solo and he was going to need advice from the flock. Nudge would help him and possibly Gassy but would the others?

'Take a place behind me! Control your speed to match everyone else and stay at least a foot behind me!' called Nudge over the wind.

Dark did as he was told and joined the V-like arrangement. At the front was, of course, Max, the two behind were Gassy and Nudge and trailing the ends were himself and Iggy.

'So Dark's decided to join us, eh? Ever done anything like this before?' asked Iggy.

'No' Dark replied honestly.

'In that case we'll have to teach you. Higher guys!' ordered Max.

'Higher?! Don't I need to practice stuff first? Aren't we high enough?' asked Dark sceptically.

'What's the matter Dark? Scared?' taunted Max playfully, turning her head so he could see her smirk while still remaining on course.

Dark scowled at her but said nothing but a vein started throbbing on his head when he heard her chuckle. The anger faded however, when he heard Nudge laughing as well.

'Max isn't planning on hurting you Dark. This is how we all first learnt as well. At this height, if you screw up and fall, you fall on air and have time to get back up again rather than going splat. Although if you're in serious trouble, then it gives _us _time to catch you, besides, people can't see us properly at this height,' she explained.

'Aww, Nudge, you took the fun out of it' Max whined.

When they reached the desired height, they took Dark through all the basics, teaching him the calls they made before performing a maneuver and then teaching the technicalities behind them. There were a few slips here and there, where Dark went too fast and flew straight into Nudge and during his first barrel roll, he rolled into Iggy and fell in a tangle of limbs for a while before adjusting again. Although Dark was having the time of his life, he could feel his wings getting tired and asked for a break.

They flew back to the cliff and went to land on the beach, still flying in the formation they started with. The tide had gone out and there was even more room to land so they got down without any accidents. As soon as Dark landed his wings went 'poof' and he turned around quickly to catch the swirly eyed With.

'Kyuu,' With said softly.

'Wow, With sure is pooped,' commented Dark.

'You know that's kind of cheating, making With do all the work while you just enjoy the ride,' criticized Gassy.

'Yes I know, but if I were to summon my real wings it will take its toll on Daisuke and I don't want to put magical strain on my tamer if I can possibly help it. Yesterday when I was fighting Krad, I had no choice but to use my magic to defend myself and that is partially why Daisuke is so tired today,' explained Dark.

'Speaking of Daisuke, has he woken up yet?' asked Iggy.

'Yes, he woke up and started screaming while we were doing the barrel roll, so you can blame him for me crashing into you Iggy.'

Iggy shrugged.

Now that they were on the beach Nudge and Gassy went exploring in the rock pools and Iggy sat near by building some kind of sand sculpture with his adept hands. It was way too cold to go swimming, not that it had stopped them before, mainly for Angel, but there were interesting things around here which they didn't have to stick their heads in the freezing water for.

'Look! I found a starfish!' cried Nudge

'That's nice honey,' Max replied.

Max was content with just watching her flock frolic around, so she perched her self on one the rocks that were dry and kept an eye on the flock while rocking Angel in her arms.

'Don't you want to do anything?'

Max turned to face Dark, he was previously having a discussion with Daisuke explaining what had been going on and persuading him to let him remain in control. It looked like they just finished and he won.

'Yes, there are plenty of things I want to do, I want to find Fang, I want to beat the crap out of Krad and get that feather so I can get Angel back, I want to find somewhere where me and my flock can live together safely, where no adults tell us what to do and no white coats make those terrible experiments on us, where we can not be hunted and just live our lives the way we want to, where I don't have to save the world. Somewhere where we can be happy,' Max said emotionally. 'All I want is my flock, nothing more, nothing less.'

Dark regarded her silently, Nudge wasn't kidding when she said Max puts all the strain on herself, she also said that she shared some of it with Fang, but with him not around Max is on the verge of falling apart. Fang was her source of comfort, so…

Dark hopped up onto the rock and sat beside Max and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Max froze and tried to jerk away.

'Dark! What the hell are you doing!?' she shrieked.

'It's alright Max' Dark said softly. Keeping his hold on her and bringing her to the warmth of his chest, he let his head rest on top of hers.

'What?' she said in a whisper.

'Everything is going to be alright. I'm going to help you get Fang and Angel back, and that's a promise.'

Max started to relax in Darks grasp, and he felt relieved that Max was beginning to trust him, but relief turned to worry as her shoulders started shaking with dry sobs. Dark turned her even more towards him so that he could comfort her properly and she hid her face into his chest. He stroked her hair and muttered sweet nothings to calm her down. He held her like this for some time, even when she had stopped crying, he didn't loosen his hold. Oh, how long has it been since he had held someone close like this? It felt nice to feel needed, wanted, loved, even though he knew this wasn't a permanent arrangement to hold her like this, just grasping that one moment of happiness reminded him why he has enjoyed living and what has kept him going for so long.

Max eventually pushed herself away from him and broke the sweet contact that Dark savored but didn't complain.

'Feel better now?' he asked gently and Max gave a firm nod.

'I now know what I want to do!' she said confidently.

Dark blinked at the unexpected claim. 'Huh?'

Max suddenly stood up and yelled over to her flock that had drifted further away as the time went by.

'Guys! We're going back to the house and then I'm treating you to home baked cookies for lunch!'

'Yes! Cookies!' screamed Nudge.

'Cookies _and_ milk?' added Gassy.

'And milk,' Max confirmed.

'Yes! Last one back is a stuffed turkey!' Gassy shouted, while leaping into the air and unfurling his wings. The rest of the flock followed suit, leaving Dark still slightly confused on the rock.

'Just when I think I have them figured out they pull something like this, cookies indeed…well it looks like I'm the stuffed turkey. With!'

* * *

**I'm quite pleased with this chapter, it's quite poetic in parts and I'm not one for poetry, I like the part of swirly eyed With, you can just imagine it, it's adorable. I finally got Dark out and about so I hope you're happy Dark lovers. Gassy has a message for you readers:**

**Gassy: THOSE WHO DON'T REVIEW ARE STUFFED TURKEYS!!**

**You heard him, review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello readers, this chapter was a killar, I had writers block for a lot of it. I have over 500 hits! too bad they're not reviews, cries. I've kinda noticed that whenever I get to Fang's pov he always seems to be when he wakes up...I'm gonna change that, anyway heres chapter 12.**

* * *

It was five in the afternoon, and at this time of year the sun was already half set, casting bright topical colours on the horizon before bleeding into a deep indigo blue that was spotted with pinpricks of stars.

Fang, however, was suspended in an infinite blackness, and it was total bliss. The night before had been hell, physical and mental torture had left him completely exhausted and he struggled just to open his eyes. Even when the torture was over, the horrifying images that plagued his mind came back to haunt him in his sleep.

Fang had been taken back to his bed, he knew because he could feel the weight of his body sunk in the mattress and the rough cotton material against his skin. He could also feel the dampness his tears left on his pillow and the caked salt on his cheeks and eyes.

What was he to do now? If he didn't obey Kei, then one of the flock was soon to die…no, Max would never let that happen, she'll save them definitely. But what if was Max who was…shit! If he let Max die then he'll never forgive himself, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

Fang began to shake with anger.

'Curse you Krad,' he hissed through his teeth, 'curse you Kei, DAMN YOU!!'

Kei watched Fangs episode through a small camera that was installed in his room. A small smile grew on his face. Fang's resolve was crumbling and Kei would make sure to chisel at the cracks.

'You still haven't told me why you're doing this,' a cold yet familiar voice stated from the open doorway.

'Perhaps I don't intend to tell you, Satoshi,' Kei calmly replied 'Krad told me about what you _didn't_ do last night. Does that mean you're rebelling against me? How childish.'

Kei didn't have to turn around to know that Satoshi was clenching his fists in anger.

'Don't be a fool Satoshi, fighting for his fate is pointless. You should know that very well.'

'Just because I can't escape my fate, doesn't mean I have to watch others pulled into your power hungry schemes. That fate is the burden I bare, not his.'

'Oh,' Kei drawled, 'and how do you plan to stop me, Satoshi.' Kei made eye contact with his son and a staring match began, neither blinking nor moving and refusing to give in to the other. It went on for half a minute and Kei smiled in triumph when no words of defiance left Satoshi's lips. Kei swiveled on his chair to face the monitor once again, showing a visual of Fang straining to lift himself from the bed.

'Go entertain Fang, Satoshi. No doubt he'll need something to take his mind off last nights punishments.'

With one last glare at his father, Satoshi left the room, his anger evident with his swift strides.

Kei hit a button on the keyboard and the image playing on the screen minimized so he would be able to do some work and keep an eye on the suffering winged mutant.

Hours passed and Kei had shut off the camera shortly after Fang and Satoshi left the room. That mutant sure heals fast if he's walking around already, that could mean that he could set his plan in motion earlier than intended. Either tonight or tomorrow night, Kei can start Darks downfall.

Finishing off some file work on a police case, a messenger popped up and began flashing to get his attention. He opened it and recognized the email address, instantly opening it and reading its contents. Slowly a deep rumble vibrated through Kei's chest, and then he was chuckling lowly which became loader and harder until he was cackling evilly. Kei took a deep breath and tried to cease the waves of laughter that was seeping through his throat so nothing but odd bursts escaped.

'So, this is the flock you're trying to protect…Fang.'

On screen was a page of photos, most, by the look of them were taken from a far distance. The photos were of children and of young adults; there were six of them in total and their picture had been repeatedly taken while they were unaware. One was of a teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, she was slim and had a pretty face but there was a fierce predatory aura about her that Kei immediately speculated her to be 'Max.' In the pictures she was dressed in slim jeans, a red hoodie and very worn trainers and appears to be carrying a bungle in her arms. In one of the photos he could just see a small childlike face among the blankets. So that's the little one, Angel, the one Krad has mind snared, Kei thought. Kei browsed through the photos, identifying the other members of the flock and memorizing their faces. Kei was frowning as he browsed through, noticing another figure who was with them but wasn't part of the flock.

Kei had all the facts, there were a total of six within the flock, the one called Fang, who he already has in his custody and the other five he has acknowledged from the photos. So this other person was either a passerby or he is assisting them. Kei really couldn't see his face properly as his hair and cap kept shadowing his face. Kei soon concluded that this 'unknown' was an accomplice; he was in many of the photos and was even linking arms with the dark skinned mutant.

Further down the photos seemed to jump from a park area to a cliff, and that is where Kei made a shocking realization. Dark!! That 'unknown' is Dark!! In the photos the flock was in the air, wings out and in some kind of flying formation and then Dark joins them! The can be no mistake about it! Who else can summon black wings on a whim? It has to be!

Kei couldn't have been happier, this just makes thing all the more easier. Right at the end of the photos, were images of a household taken at different angles and then there was a map of the city with a little red circle on it, locating the building.

'The Niwa residence,' Kei muttered to himself.'

Suddenly his phone goes off and he answers it irritably.

'Hai?'

'Is this Kei Hiwartari chief of police?'

'And you are'

'My name is Erwin Fletcher, I'm a representative of International Trading Express, and I would like to report a kidnapping concerning a child of one of our employees.' The caller said emotionlessly.

'Is the parent unable to report this themselves?'

'They are currently distraught,' was the simple reply.

That seemed to be the only details he was going to get. Kei didn't like it; there was something suspicious about this call.

'May I have the name and description of the child?'

'That will not be necessary Mr. Hiwartari.'

'What!?'

'You already have him in your custody'

Kei froze, they knew about Fang, but how? What would a trading company want with…wait a minute, **I**nternational. **T**rading. **EX**press.

'You're Itex' said Kei gaining back some composure.

'Very good, Mr. Hiwartari,'

'What do you want?'

'If you are aware of us, then it should be obvious to what we want.'

'You want Fang.'

'Not exactly,'

'Then what do you want' said Kei confused.

'We are willing to make a deal, Mr. Hiwartari,'

Kei paused for a moment.

'I'm listening,'

'In our recorded history none of our attempts to contain the flock have been successful. We have discovered your capture and detainment of Fang and currently you are the only one, who has kept any of them in confinement for this long,'

'And your point is?'

'We are curious to know how you have acquired the means of capture and if you would, for a considerable price, share that information.'

'No,' was Kei's calm yet immediate answer.

'We had predicted that would be your answer, so here's an alternative deal. We ask you to get custody of the Avian-hybrid Max and hand her to us.'

'Not the others?'

'The others are irrelevant.'

That's interesting.

'So if I were to attain the other flock members to keep for myself, would you object to that?'

'You may do that, if that is what you desire, we would only ask that you will not liberate them, for they would undoubtedly try to attack and penetrate our head quarters to retrieve Max. Our advice would be to retire them.'

'Understood.'

'We will discuss the payment details at a later date. I will call you tomorrow at the same time to discuss these matters.'

The line went dead and Kei hung up his phone.

'Itex…just how stupid do you think I am? I am after something much more significant than money. And I'm not that easy to exploit.'

Honestly, this is like one of those crime movies where someone gets offered a big load of cash, and as soon as they've done what was asked of them, they get killed for it. Kei imagined that this is the kind of game Itex is playing, Kei wouldn't be surprised, they'd probably set it up so that he, along with the flock would be, how did he put it? _Retired._ It would have been less obvious if they had put a jolly person on the line saying 'WE'RE GONNA KILL YOU!' because then, he may have thought it was a joke.

Kei sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was going to have to think this out carefully, Itex was obviously watching him but they haven't seen Krad, his '_means of capture'_. Good, that gives him the upper hand should he need to go on the offensive and if he had more of the flock with those interesting powers of theirs, he would be unstoppable. Who cares about conquering Dark, Kei was going to conquer the world.

* * *

Despite Satoshi's arguments that he shouldn't be moving around, Fang walked along the corridor that lead to the dining room and through there, into the kitchen. Sleeping all day sure works yourself up an appetite, Fang thought dully. His body was still a little bit tired and his back felt like it had hot wires streaming across his back if he bent to far forward but other than that he was spiffy. Satoshi trailed behind him, ready to be his support if he suddenly collapsed and also to help him cook something for that massive pit of a stomach he has.

After filling himself with a large portion of spaghetti bolognaise with cheese and fried onions on top, then a scoop or three of ice cream for dessert, Fang pushed the bowl away and rested his head on his arms, forgetting about the lacerations on his back and winced when his back burned. Satoshi had long ago finished his meal and was sitting calmly with attention focused on the wall on the other side of the dining room, clearly deep in thought. His attention broke to land on Fang when he heard the scraping of china on wood.

'Ok, I kept my side of the deal in cooking you food, now it's time to keep yours, back to bed'

Fang didn't appear to have heard, as he didn't move from his position.

'Fang', Satoshi said sternly.

Fang sluggishly turned his head but still kept it rested on his arms. What Satoshi saw was the same as when he stepped into Fang's bedroom earlier. Fangs eyes were full of anger, uncertainty and fear, but the fear was not for himself and Satoshi knew that. But the thing that was worrying Satoshi was the fact that he could read Fang. Before, Fang had never let his true emotions show, keeping his eyes guarded and had that mask set firmly on his face. Now he could read him like a book and he looked…lost.

'Yes Satoshi?' said Fang woodenly.

'You know this isn't helping Fang.'

'What isn't?'

'You being like this, it's not going to help your flock and it's not going to help you, so PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!!' Satoshi screamed.

Fang jerked his head up, ignoring the pain in his back and stared wide eyed at Satoshi, clearly shocked.

'This is what he wants Fang! This is exactly what my father and Krad want. Are you just going to give up? I thought you had more strength than that.'

Fang closed his eyes and lowered his head guiltily.

'I know it hurts…believe me. But you mustn't let him get to you; you can't let him use you. Otherwise there is no hope for you and your flock,' Satoshi said gently, 'and there'd be no hope for me.'

Silence was met between them for a few minutes. Fang was deep in his thoughts but no longer depressed. Satoshi was right, Fang can **not **show weakness, not even in the slightest, especially with so much at stake. With Satoshi's last barely uttered words, it dawned on Fang that not only did the flock need him to get out of this mess, but Satoshi as well. Satoshi has been living this nightmare for a very long time, if Fang can't get out of this then what hope in heaven did Satoshi have? Newly determined Fang eventually spoke.

'You're right…but I can't win this battle by myself.'

'That's why I'm helping, and I'm pretty sure that flock of yours is going to give up either.'

'Not with Max in charge, sooner or later, there will be havoc, you'll see,' said Fang confidently.

'In the meantime, we can wreck havoc of our own,' Satoshi smirked mischievously.

Fang leaned back in mock horror.

'Who are you and what have you done with the real Satoshi,' laughed Fang.

Satoshi rolled his eyes, took his spoon and threw it at him, missing Fang's face by inches.

'Ok, ok I give, now what kind of scheming, undoubtedly brilliant chaos brewing plan did you have in mind?'

Satoshi was about to reply when he suddenly shut his mouth, turning into a tight thin line and his eyes focused behind Fang, hard and cold. Fang didn't need to turn around to know what brought that reaction and automatically set his face into a passive expression.

Kei walked fluidly into the room, setting his sights upon Fang and Satoshi and made his way over to them. He noticed that they had stopped speaking as soon as he entered the room but unfortunately he didn't pick up what they were previously talking about. He gave them his best fake smile and proceeded to take a seat opposite them.

'Good to see you up and about Fang, you're quite a fast healer I see. I suppose that's part of your mutant genetics?' Kei rhetorically asked. 'Well, seeing that you are egger to stay out of bed, I have a proposition for you.'

Satoshi narrowed his eyes at his father while Fang looked on impassively.

'It doesn't necessarily need to be done tonight but there is something that I want you to do for me, and only _you_ can do it'

Fang raised his eyes to meet Kei's and his posture raged defiance, Kei, who was used to such traits from his ice blue son, was not put off and instead, was laughing silently in his head in amusement.

'Still not co-operable? You know Fang, the sooner you complete this task, the sooner we can save Angel,' Fang's eyes widened at the mentioning of Angel and clenched his jaw in concealed anger. Kei continued 'and…the sooner you will all be reunited.'

Fang felt his nails dig into the palms of his hands as they curled into fists, sleazy bastard…

Satoshi was angry as well, although he didn't show it so openly, Fang's weakness was his family and Kei exploited it with no mercy. Just what was this _task_ his father was using Fang for? What ever it is, it probably wasn't good for either of them.

'I will give you tonight to rest up, but tomorrow; you _will_ complete this task, if you have any wish to see your flock again…alive.'

Fang and Satoshi watched Kei's every move as he rose from his seat and as he left the room, he retrieved his phone from his pocket and dialed a number, placing it against his ear as he strolled out of sight.

'Satoshi,' Fang eventually said, turning to face him, 'this plan had better put Kei in a lot of pain…because there is no way in hell I'm going to let Kei get his filthy hands on Angel...or any of the flock,'

* * *

Takeshi Saehara was bored. The young reporter-to-be hadn't found anything worth reporting since the Dark theft on Friday and to be honest, that wasn't really worth reporting either. The event had happened and passed so fast that no body knew any details, even the police and his dad didn't know what happened. Today was Sunday and he was disappointed to at not finding a decent story to give back at school tomorrow. He sighed and mused on how disappointed his readers are going to be when the first page article of the school newspaper will be on the hygiene hazards of eating anything made by Risa Harada with an exclusive interview with Daisuke Niwa, who has tasted Risa's awful cooking.

Saehara smirked as he imagined the look on Daisuke's face when he sees the article, Saehara didn't actually interview him, he just put together the comments Daisuke had made when they talked about it in casual conversation. Saehara laughed silently at the reaction that _Risa_ would make when she sees who made such statements about her cooking, it's going to be hilarious. Sure it wasn't a proper story but it should gain a few laughs.

It was getting late and it was already dark, the street lamps glowed a florescent orange to illuminate the roads and walk paths and apart from the few late night walkers, the roads were deserted. Saehara lifted the camera that was hung around his neck and switched it on to look at the pictures. Nothing that would catch the attention of restless school students…unless they were complete nature lovers like Daisuke. A man playing with his dog, the wind turbines on the cliff with the sea in the background, the trademark fountain which is a popular romance spot and…an old man yelling at him when he was trying to get a good picture of a couple of cute girls, when the old coot suddenly jumped out in front of him and gave him a lecture on indecent photography.

'I'll give him indecent photography; his face almost cracked my lens,' muttered Saehara grouchily.

Just then Saehara heard a scream followed by the smashing of glass, it was faint and hard to locate where it came from, but another scream pieced the air and Saehara took off in the direction he thought it came from.

The thought never crossed Saehara's mind that he could be running into mortal danger, it didn't occur to him that he should have went for help, to someone who was more adult and used common sense. Nope, curiosity won over common sense and instinct on self-preservation.

Saehara ran through familiar roads and kept his eyes open for anything that was out of place or suspicious. Finally he reached the town centre with its vast flat cobbled area and passer-bys had formed a reasonable distanced ring around the main bank.

Was there a robbery going on?

Suddenly there was a gun shot and people inside and out began to scatter. Saehara ran into an alley between two buildings on the opposite side of the street and made sure he was in the shadows so he couldn't be seen. As the area cleared of people, Saehara took this opportunity to get a clear shot and yet stay at a safe distance. Putting his camera on half zoom he had a clear view of the whole building and the broken glass window on the left of the entrance doors. Taking a picture, he then waited to see if anything else would happen. He didn't have to wait long; slowly stalking out the broken window was a young male in black clothing but strangely wore no mask to hide his face. 'The thief!' Saehara thought excitedly but there was something off. Saehara nearly dropped his camera at the hauntingly familiar hairstyle and dress of the thief. No…it can't be…

Saehara pressed the photo button before he completely lost grip of his camera and watched in shock as the thief unfolded a pair of black feathered wings from his clothes and jumped inhumanly high before letting his wings carry him and his load into the sky. Saehara quickly got a hold of himself, raised his camera and took a picture of the thief's escape before he sharply turned and swept out of sight.

Saehara continued to stare at the empty sky, where he last saw the thief fly with a large bag of cash or something of value grasped in his fist. A grin began to grow across Saehara's face.

'That was so cool! I'm going to have a field day with this!'

Police sirens were echoing through the night air and coming steadily closer. Saehara almost had a heart attack and made a quick get away before the police got there. He did **not** need to be a suspect just because he was found at the scene of the crime and he sure as hell didn't want his camera confiscated.

* * *

Far away from the crime scene, the winged thief landed near a black van by the outskirts of town.

'Not planning on fighting tonight?' a cruel voice mocked in the darkness.

The thief drew his eyes towards the figure that the voice belonged, and with his sharp eyes, picked out a silhouette leaning against the side of the van.

'Disappointed?' was the equally mocking reply.

The shadowed figure chuckled and moved into the artificial light, white posh clothes, long blond hair, and a handsome face greeted the thief.

'I was hoping for a little scuffle but never mind, I suppose you've become smart enough to realise that you don't stand a chance.'

'Believe me, if I had any chance, you wouldn't be standing long enough to say those words.'

Krad chuckled and walked towards the thief and placed a finger under his chin lifting his face to meet his eyes.

'But you don't, my little Dark pet, and you never will.'

The thief's response was a backhand to the hand under his chin and a deadly glare. Krad was unfazed.

'But I'm glad you still have fight in you, otherwise keeping you would be boring, you did well Fang, you can sleep soundly tonight,' Krad smirked.

'How generous of you,' Fang replied sarcastically.

Fang dropped the bag of cash he swiped from the bank and grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled it off his overheated head.

'I hope Kei doesn't plan for another of these Dark impersonations, these clothes are _way_ too tight for comfort and this wig itches.' Fang muttered to himself.

* * *

**yes, it's another crazy bad guy with the big head idea that he's going to rule the world. theres a lot of jumping from characters pov, I liked writing it from Saehara's pov. I haven't really thought about this 'scheming, undoubtedly brilliant chaos brewing plan' that Satoshi has cooked up. If anyone has any ideas on the plan or have something they would like to happen in the story that they'd like to share, either review it or post me a message, it would help my writter's block and possibly make me write more, thank you!!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Another chappie and I'm already writting the next one. I think you're going to enjoy what I have planned to happen next, I'm looking forward to writting it but I'm not saying anything! You'll have to wait until it's put up. lol. Strangly my dad is interested in reading my story and has become my beta reader. 0o but he's only just started reading it so I'm not waiting for him to finish before I update, that's not fair on you readers who wait so patiently for the next chapter. If anything, I will make alterations after my story is finished. So far this story is 129 pages! Thank you to those who have reviewed.**

* * *

Takeshi rushed to school extremely early. Around his neck was his treasured camera and in his pocket was a flash drive containing the report on last night's robbery, which he had spent the entire night writing up. Even though he had dark rings around his eyes, his face was split in a huge grin.

The reason for coming to school at this insanely hour was so he could download his story onto the school computers and print as many copies as possible before the students arrived. Grabbing a pile of papers he got permission from the receptionist (how he did that, I have no clue) to borrow the janitor keys so he could plant a pile of his papers in each classroom. With the last classroom being his homeroom, he slumped into his chair and snoozed on the table while he waited for his classmates.

Saehara was awoken by high pitched squeals. The source was a group of three girls, who always came to school early and they were staring in shock at the paper in their hands.

'This…this can't be true,' one of them cried.

'Dark has never robbed a bank or threatened with a gun before.'

'The photos must be fake. It's all a lie!'

Saehara fell off his seat; sure he was expecting some words of denial, but to accuse him of making a _fake_ story and _fake_ photos…he was downright insulted.

'Who would do such a thing?'

'Poor Dark, he's being framed!'

Saehara coughed to get their attention.

'If you look at the bottom of the article it _says_ who wrote it.' He said stiffly.

Simultaneously the girls looked down to read _'Reported by Saehara Takeshi'_

Before Saehara knew it, the girls were at his table and slammed their hands down on his desk. Itai, that has got to hurt, he cringed. It had always been a dream to have girls flocking to him…but not like this.

'HOW _COULD_ YOU!!' one screamed

'Dark has done nothing to deserve this! You're so selfish to try and use him to boost your reputation!'

'I'm disgusted'

'…Whoa, whoa, h-hang on a minute…'

'I used to respect you, you know. The other reports you have made were at least truthful, even if you do say such ridiculous things sometimes…'

'It is the truth and I do not say-'

'Prove it,' one of them demanded, she had a serious face and long black hair.

'Eh…?'

'Prove that this is true,' she repeated.

'How the heck am I going to do that? What ever I tell you you'd think I'm lying. Seems to me you've already made your minds up. Sheesh, girls are so judgemental,' he complained.

'Are you admitting its fake then?'

'IT'S NOT FAKE! Look, I have the original pictures on my camera, would that convince you!?'

'What if they were altered and then downloaded back onto your camera?'

'Then I would have the photos that I used to make it on it.'

'Unless you deleted them.'

A vein started to throb on Saehara's temple.

'Who are you? Sherlock Holmes?'

'I'm surprised he even knows who that is,' one of the girls giggled.

Saehara grit his teeth painfully.

'Look me in the eye Takeshi,' said the black haired girl.

Saehara looked up, surprised at first because how informally she addressed him, and then how low she was leaning over his desk to look him in the eye. Saehara mentally cursed on how high she had buttoned her shirt, if only she had left a few undone…oh and what a sight it must be if anyone just happened to be behind her…

'Is this story fake?' she stretched out each word, which sounded more like a threat than a question. Saehara knew this game, he'd had plenty of practice with his dad and he sometimes managed to get away with his lies, but no acting was needed for this question.

'No' he said truthfully keeping his eyes locked on hers and struggling with himself to not let his eyes wander lower…

To Saehara's disappointment she stood up straight and crossed her arms with her face in a cute pout.

'Shame, I thought my mom's truth confessing method would work, I guess it didn't this time, she's a lawyer you know,' she said more to herself than anyone else.

'Well, I'm not stopping you for trying again,' Saehara said mischievously.

The girl blinked as though trying to come to terms with what he said. I look of realisation, embarrassment, and then anger played across her face.

'HENTAI!!' she smacked him.

Once again Saehara hit the floor but this time with a red hand mark across his cheek.

'What the hell has Saehara done now?'

The room was starting to fill up as more students filed in.

'Nothing worth _reporting_,' the black haired girl sneered; she then walked over to the desk, picked up the pile of newspapers and threw them out the window.

'Gaaaaaaaaah, my paper! You can't do that!' squealed Saehara.

'I just did,' she said smugly.

'You bitch,' Saehara fumed.

'What's going on?' asked a not really interested Satoshi, who just walked into the room with Fang close behind him.

'That hag,' Saehara pointed at the girl, 'just threw my newspapers out the window.'

'Well if _somebody_ hadn't written a false story, I wouldn't have seen it fit to be thrown away,' she seethed.

'Kohei-san,' the girl jerked surprised at the mentioning of her name coming from Satoshi's lips and gave him her full most attention, 'I'd say that the most appropriate place for you to have '_thrown away_' those papers would have been the bin, now I must ask you to go and retrieve all the paper and put it in the correct place or I'll have to report you for extreme littering. I will explain to Sensei the reason you're absent.'

'B-but, it _his_ paper, _he_ should go and get it,' she spluttered.

'But he didn't throw them out the window.' Satoshi gave her a hard stare, 'Get going Kohei-san.'

Kohei walked dejectedly across the classroom and Saehara couldn't resist to rub it in.

'By the way, Kohei-chan, there's a pile of my papers in every classroom, so don't be surprised when the whole school knows about it,' he grinned.

Kohei twitched, that meant that she practically threw them out the window for nothing. She thought that because this was Saehara's classroom that they would only be limited to this room. I'm sorry Dark; I couldn't save you from this scandal! She mentally prayed.

'School hasn't started yet and you're already making a scene,' commented Satoshi

'Me! It was her...and her lackeys,' he added when he eyed the two other girls standing not to far away with murder written on their faces.

'I did nothing wrong,' several of his classmates snorted, 'they just over reacted to what I wrote, speaking of which since we haven't got the papers anymore, I'll just have to give you a first hand report with the one and only Saehara Takeshi as an eye witness,' he beamed proudly.

'Wait a minute, _you_ were an eye witness,' one of the boys snorted, 'you'd couldn't eye witness Satoshi in his pyjamas.'

'Why would I want to see Hiwartari in his pyjamas?' Saehara shot back.

'What do me and my pyjamas have to do with this conversation?' Satoshi stated coldly, trying to divert attention from his private life.

It didn't work.

'So you actually wear pjs? I always imagined you as someone who'd wear only boxers.'

'And why would you be imagining him with so little clothes on?' butted Fang. He recognised the guy as the one who asked him 'are you gay' on his first day.

'I-I don't!' he stuttered with a blush.

Disgusted and disbelieving looks were shot his way. Fang noticed that Satoshi was looking a little uncomfortable.

'We have gone completely off topic here,' said a slightly disturbed Saehara who was still wondering how they got onto the subject of a homo's sexual fantasies.

'Yes, we have,' said Satoshi through gritted teeth and he made it certain that he would not look at the boy who imagines him in boxers. He has nothing against homos; he just isn't one himself and doesn't want the attention of one.

Just then, Sensei swooped in and told everyone to get to their seats, before they all disbanded Saehara announced,

'Those who want to hear the story told first hand, stay in here during break time!'

Sensei was calling through the register and didn't even look up when the door slid open and an out of breath Daisuke toppled into the room.

'You're late Mr. Niwa, since I haven't quite got to your name yet, I'll let you off but don't cut it this close again.'

'Hai, Sensei,' he squeaked and sat down in his seat. Sensei resumed marking the register.

'Niwa Daisuke,'

'…hai'

If Daisuke had gotten there only two seconds later he would be clearing out the rubbish in detention, his Sensei really showed no mercy to late comers.

Saehara was in a cheerful mood throughout the lesson and he couldn't wait to tell his classmates of what he saw last night and he wondered if he was the first to report this story. He didn't see anything about it in the morning paper or in the TV so he had a strong feeling that he was the first. Nothing could spoil his day, he thought. Until a test paper was placed in front of him with a clearly marked **F** in red.

'You're slacking off again Mr. Saehara, if this is the grade I have to give on your next test, I will have to call your parents. In the mean time, you can stay in after school today and redo this test for practise,' said Sensei.

'WHAT! I can't do that! I have a meeting with the reporters club and I'm the club chairman!'

'You should have thought about that when you revised for this test. You will bring your notes and answer the questions again.'

'How come I'm the only one getting this treatment?!' Saehara sulked

'Because you're the only one who failed.'

'Wha…?'

Saehara turned around to look at one student in particular. It was well known that Watanebe Ling pretty much fails every test or homework given to him. And he, noticing all eyes on him, proudly lifted his paper to reveal a D-.

'Watanebe-san has been asking for extra help and has worked hard to get that D. I suggest you take a leaf out of his book or get your act together. Class dismissed,' she said as the bell rang.

Surprisingly it was Sensei who was first out the door; she had quickly grabbed her folder and bag and made a beeline for the staffroom in need of some caffine and something to dull her headache.

Once she was out the room, Saehara plonked himself on his desk and waited for the crowd to gather. To Saehara's surprise, Satoshi and Fang were still in their seats, looking bored, yet expectantly at him. Daisuke, who hadn't a clue what was going on was looking around for someone to explain. Saehara cleared his throat.

'At approximately 20:00 hours in the main street bank, there was a robbery. It's a typical kind that you see on western films; the guy came in with a gun and threatened them to surrender money. At that time, I had just arrived at the scene, just in time to hear the gun go off.' There were gasps from various people and whispers were spreading. Saehara grinned at the reactions, he loved causing suspense. 'The people who had gathered outside had scattered and I took the chance to hide and take my pictures. From where I was, I couldn't see inside the building, so I can't confirm whether there was a victim or if that shot was a warning. The window was broken from the thief's entrance and it was his exit as well.' They were all hooked, no one dared to speak. 'The person, who emerged from the window, was dressed in black clothing and he held a large bag that must have been filled with money. The man didn't wear a mask of any sort and I got a zoom in on him. I couldn't believe my eyes…it was The Phantom Thief…Dark.'

Just as expected shouts of denial and shock filled the room.

'Impossible!'

'Dark steals artefacts and artwork, not money!'

'Could it have been someone impersonating him?!'

'No,' said Sahara sternly. Everyone fell silent at his serious tone, 'Those thoughts were running through my head when I first saw him. But I have photographic evidence that this is Dark…it was on the paper but I guess this will have to do for now.'

Saehara turned on his camera and found the right picture, turning it around for all to see. Everyone crowded closer to get a better look. It was Dark alright, the black clothing, the hair style, the wings, it could have been a photo of Dark taken at any time, apart from the fact that he was carrying a large bulging sack in his fist. Saehara hit a button to play back the photos to show Dark just out side of the broken window.

No one noticed the anxious increase of Fang's heartbeat or the slight cold sweat that was breaking on Satoshi's forehead as they heard the retelling of last nights event.

This meant that Kei's plan was just setting off a bit early. Everyone should have run once the gun had gone off, but Saehara is one unpredictable factor. Unfortunately this was bad news for Dark, Fang and Satoshi, the only risk in Kei's plan was that if _someone_ had taken photos and realised that this Dark was fake then Kei's plan would be ruined. The photo's would be professionally looked at to identify the culprit and once Fang was revealed he would be taken away from Kei's custody to be put in prison, he may be head of police but he can't go against the law on this particular matter, also he would have to be investigated since Fang is still too young to be deemed independent. It was a 1.2786 percent chance, but a devastating one if it should happen, but Saehara being Saehara was too excited to be thinking about the details of the photos and was satisfied with having the evidence to fit his story.

The photos that were taken barely showed the face, the one flying had his back to the camera and the one outside the bank had his face cast in shadow thanks to Dark's wacky hairstyle. No one, not even the professionals could extract a face out of that.

Never in all his hunted life, did Fang want to be caught as he did right now, his hopes had sparked when Saehara said he had pictures but was bitterly disappointed at the lack of quality.

Satoshi was in a similar predicament and was frowning in thought with his eyes trained on the ground, trying to find a way to turn this around.

The next part of Kei's plan is devastating should Dark announce another theft, but there's nothing he could do about that. That was beyond his power as commander, all he could do is order the officers not to kill Dark.

'Hey, Daisuke are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost'

The name 'Daisuke' forced Satoshi out of his thoughts. The red head was pale, obviously shocked by the news and was probably having an internal debate with himself.

Of course! Satoshi suddenly thought. Daisuke and Dark talk to each other so what ever I say Dark would get the message through Daisuke. If only my relationship with my Demon was as pleasant. Satoshi quickly came up with an idea and putting on his most thoughtful face he waited.

'Hey Satoshi should know all about this case, tell us if there's anything I missed,' rushed Saehara noticing Satoshi's thoughtful expression.

'Yeah like if anyone actually got shot,' said a curious classmate. The rest of the class were nodding their heads and making noises of agreement.

Bingo.

'You know it's not really my place to share that kind of information with civilians,' Satoshi said professionally.

Many disappointed murmurs and a shout of protest off Saehara was his response.

'But, since it's going to be on the news anyway, and over half the story's been told already I suppose I could finish it,' he continued.

His classmates were shocked at his offer, Satoshi _never_ gave information willingly.

Daisuke was brought out of his stupor by Satoshi's unusual behaviour, which probably meant that he should pay attention to what he had to say, for he doubted that he or any of his classmates would see Satoshi this generous again.

'As Saehara has already stated, at roughly 20:00 hours there was a robbery at the main bank, however the culprit was gone by the time the police got there. Speaking of which, they never mentioned you being there Saehara so what happened to you?'

Saehara laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

'I did a runner, if the police found me then they would confiscate my camera for evidence and I'd never get my story written.'

'Nevertheless, that was selfish and irresponsible; if the police had seen you running you would be more of a suspect than a witness. Anyway back on the subject, eyewitnesses claimed, like Saehara that the culprit was Dark and there was a gun involved, but it was never found. We suspect that the Dark took it with him when he escaped.'

Fang couldn't believe how easy Satoshi talked about it, even though he knew the real culprit was sitting right next to him. Satoshi was an incredible personality.

'There was one casualty at the scene and unfortunately…it was fatal.'

Fang stared at Satoshi wide eyed, as did most in the room. Fatal? He only hit the guy in the shoulder, that wasn't a fatal wound and he was told that the guy was wearing a bullet-proof jacket. It was an act…wasn't it? Did he hit the wrong person? Fang was filled with uncertainty but he put his mask up, he would be getting answers off Satoshi when this was over, he mustn't look guilty.

'That's pretty much it concerning the robbery, what the news isn't going to tell you is how the police plan on subduing Dark.'

There was silence and the room waited expectantly.

'Its thief vs. police, fire vs. fire,' was Satoshi's only response. 'I'm going to go now and get some fresh air before my break time is entirely wasted.'

Satoshi left the room with Fang close behind him, leaving a dissatisfied and annoyed classroom of students and Saehara in a particularly bad mood.

'I'm going to go and get some fresh air before my break time is entirely wasted,' imitated Saehara in a childish voice, 'can you believe him! He made it sound as though he didn't want to be here! No one was making him stay sheesh!'

As the students eventually followed Satoshi's example and catch a couple minutes of freedom before lessons start. Daisuke was pondering over Satoshi's words.

'Fire vs. Fire…sounds like a riddle,' thought Daisuke.

'_I believe it is Daisuke, and I think I know what the commander was getting at, I think he'__s trying to warn us,'_ said Dark

'Warn us? But what did he say that would indicate that?'

'_The riddle Daisuke, thief vs. police, fire vs. fire._'

'But that makes no sense.'

'_The commander used the fire vs. fire to describe how the police are going to approach us; this other Dark just used a gun so let's say that this is the fire the commander was talking about._'

'So fire vs. fire…no way, the police are going to use guns! But they've never taken to this extreme before!'

'_We've never apparently killed anyone before either, I think we've been set up Daisuke, so it would be safest not to do any thefts for a while…or at least announce them. That really takes the fun out of it, but I'm not going to risk getting you killed, that's the last thing I'd want to happen. We'd better be careful Daisuke, if creepy boy is taking the liberty to help us then that probably means that Krad is up to something._'

* * *

Fang waited until they were out of anyone's hearing range before he interrogated Satoshi.

'Satoshi, is what you said back there true? Did I actually kill someone?,' Fang said in a harsh whisper.

'You didn't Fang, I had to say that because that's exactly how it will be portrayed in the news. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the outcome, I was a bit…occupied.'

By that he meant Krad was possessing him. Fang was still a little peeved but he couldn't stay angry, it wasn't Satoshi's fault. Fang sighed.

'What was the point of all that anyway? Aren't you just encouraging Kei's plan? With all the 'turn the public against Dark' crap? The news could have done that for you.'

'Dark was there.'

'What?'

'He's like me, Fang, he has a host, and I said those things to give them a warning, it's the only thing I could do to get some leverage against my father's plot.'

'Fire vs. fire, that's the clue isn't it? Won't the other student's figure it out?'

Satoshi snorted, 'Our classmates don't have the patience to work out hidden meanings, and they probably think I said it for dramatics.'

'And Dark's host is one of our classmates? Why didn't you tell me this? You told me that Dark has seen my flock so if he's here then-'

'No Fang', Satoshi interrupted, 'remember that even at school we are being watched if you start acting differently around a certain person then we'll just be making things a lot more easier for Kei. He doesn't know Darks real identity.'

There was an awkward pause and Fang seemed to be analysing him.

'You care about him don't you?' Fang accused.

Satoshi was surprised by the statement, 'Dark's host is probably the first proper friend that I ever had, and my father wants to permanently dispose of Dark, which also means disposing of his host. If Dark is eliminated then not only do I lose a friend but your flock will have no protection against Krad.'

'Isn't there some way that I can find out if my flock is ok?' said Fang dejectedly. His flock was his world, not knowing about there welfare was torture.

'I'll see what I can do, Fang.'

The bell rang.

Back in class, Daisuke hadn't left his seat and was looking a little green around the edges. Satoshi couldn't blame him; literally 5 minutes ago he subtly announced his death sentence. Sensei had also noticed Daisuke off colouring.

'Mr. Niwa, I'm giving you permission to go to the nurse's office, no offence but you look awful.' She said while scribbling on a permission slip and handing to Daisuke, who took it without complaint. He didn't think he would be able to focus today anyway.

* * *

**Saehara is a pervert! sorry there's not much going on in this chapter but it's a build up, the next chapter should be more exciting. Review and don't forget to message me on your ideas. bye bye for now.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey hey hey readers! I hope you like this chappie, I worked hard on it, so much that I've neglected my homework so you'll need to give me lots of reviews to make it up to me.**

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Daisuke's sudden illness didn't last long, a hot bath, some sleep and an entertaining show of Gassy imitating his mother and he was feeling a lot better. His turn of health did stop the flock's plans for the day but they were glad that Daisuke made a swift recovery.

Dark was glad too, it was a shock to be told that they were now on the top of the 'bring back dead or alive' list. Dark was slightly apprehensive but Daisuke just couldn't handle the information at all.

Later that afternoon, the door bell rang and Daisuke went to open it.

'Niwa-kun, it's good to see you feeling better,'

'Hiwartari-kun?!'

'No need to be so surprised,' he said pushing up his glasses, 'I've brought you my class notes and today's homework, Sensei says not to push yourself but don't come back to school with nothing.'

Daisuke sweat dropped, 'Sounds like Sensei alright.'

'You can give back my notes next time you're in school, oh and Kiba says get well soon.'

'Thanks,'

Satoshi walked down the small path leading away from the house and got in the limo waiting for him.

Daisuke closed the door and heard the limo leave.

'Who was that Dai-chan?' called Emiko

'It's was Hiwartari-kun, he just dropped over some school work,' he called back.

He went into the living room and sat himself on the sofa where Iggy was snoozing.

'Whaaaaat? If you were still like you were earlier the thought of homework would probably make you sicker, I know I would be,' complained Emiko from the kitchen.

'Well at least I won't fall behind,' replied Daisuke as he flicked through the note book to find the right page. A small folded piece of paper fell out. Daisuke unfolded it and stared at it wide eyed.

'Max! Gassy! Nudge! Come here!'

'Did you have to shout?' complained Iggy, rubbing his ear.

Loud footfalls could be heard as Max, Gassy and Nudge rushed into the room.

'What is it?' Max asked.

'It's a letter from Fang.' Daisuke grinned.

The letter was abruptly snatched from his fingers and then given back to him. It was in Japanese.

'What does it say?' demanded Max.

'**Dear Flock,**

**This is totally weird, since I have never written a letter in my life and it's even weirder that I have to send it to those I never wanted to part with in the first place. I am alright at the moment, I haven't been put in a dog crate or experimented on but, what has been done to me is worse, much worse and there is no way I want that to happen to you. I can't escape from here because of some drug that's been put in my system. You saw the results of it on **_**that**_** night. It's my mission to make my captor a.k.a. Kei Hiwartari's life hell and screw everything up as much as possible and to make sure that he can not get to you. **

**I have help on the inside here, bastard Kei has a son, Satoshi and he is actually a great guy. He hates his father as much as we hate lab coats and is my only contact to Dark, who I know has you staying with him so I can get this message to you. He also has an Angel/Demon spirit within him called Krad. You also met him on **_**that**_** night; he was that girly looking man with wings who has done something to Angel. I'm afraid I'm at a loss at how to help her, even Satoshi doesn't know how to reverse what is done. I can only hope that you and Dark can come up with something because from what I've been told, she has less than four days to live.**

**Be very careful Max, I know it is highly unlikely you'd do as I tell you if I said to leave me here.'**

'Damn straight.' Max interrupted.

'**So I'm not, but I think you'll have no objections if I ask you to cause as much havoc as possible. Me and Satoshi will be doing the same. My last request is to let Dark deal with Krad if you ever come into conflict with him. Keep them safe Dark.**

**All my love **

**Fang.'**

There was also a message addressed to Daisuke from Satoshi, which he read silently.

_**Niwa-kun**_

_**I was rather fortunate for you to fall ill, no offence but it has given us the opportunity to converse about this subject without suspicion. Both myself and Fang are being closely watched by agents hired by my father so it is impossible to speak about this at school. **_

_**So far, things are not looking good, this fake Dark robbery was planned to reduce Dark's favour with the public. You have no idea how many Dark fans have called in claiming to be Dark or seen Dark and setting the police on wild goose chases. **_

_**You have most likely figured out that the police are planning on using guns at your next announced theft, by law the police are allowed to use guns if the criminal themselves possesses one. Otherwise we would have caught Dark ages ago.**_

_**If Dark is taken down, then the police bag themselves a wanted criminal and it leaves Fang's flock vulnerable to Krad's assault. As much as I hate to admit, Dark is a key factor to bringing down my father. He must NOT be caught.**_

_**Inform me if there is anything that I can do and tell me any plans you've made by writing them in my notebook. Make sure you get it directly to me.**_

_**Until then.**_

_**Satoshi.**_

'Where does this Kei live?' asked Max, her voice full of anger and eagerness.

'Somewhere on the outskirts, he owns a huge mansion and it's very high in security,' replied Daisuke.

'So high that the famous phantom thief can't beat it?' mocked Iggy.

'_Watch it__…' _was said thief's reply.

'What are your thoughts Dark?' asked Daisuke mentally.

'_Well, by the sound of it, Fang isn't in any immediate danger so I think our main priority at the moment is to revive Angel.__ Then we can save Fang.'_

'And to do that we need Krad's feather, have you got any ideas how to get it?'

'_Actually I have…'_ Dark broke off thoughtfully.

'What?'

'Yo? Daisuke?'

Daisuke broke out of his concentration, 'huh?'

'You suddenly spaced out, you ok?' asked a concerned Gassy.

'Yeah, I'm fine. I was just talking with Dark.'

'Oh and what did he say,' drawled Max.

'That we need to help Angel before we save Fang.'

'Sounds like a plan so, when do we storm the mansion to kick Krad's butt?'

'We don't,' decided Daisuke.

'What!? Why?'

Daisuke's eyes were directed at the ceiling as though he was thinking about something or listening to a certain someone in his head.

'Dark says that, that is exactly what Kei would want us to do. To draw us into his territory and make a quiet capture. He wouldn't be able to capture you in public place because he needs Krad to do so. And Krad has yet to learn the meanings of subtly.'

'But we were in a public place the last time he tried to get us,' said Nudge.

'That's true, but Fang had got away from him and he was pissed off, luckily the crowds had left before he did anything.'

'If you call that lucky,' muttered Iggy.

'So what are we going to do?' asked Max impatiently.

There was a pause as Daisuke processed Dark's words.

'There's a piece of artwork whose magic is going haywire and it's my responsibility to sort it. Since it is now out of the question to announce the theft publicly, I will give a notice only to the commander…Kei's son,' Daisuke added when he received a load of confused faces, 'when I make the theft, only he will be there, I bet that Krad won't be able to resist a one on one fight with me and that will be the time when I snatch one of his feathers.'

'And what about us?' said Max irritated, she was peeved that she would have to rely on someone else to get what was needed to save Angel. It was her flock and her responsibility.

'You won't be involved,' he said simply.

Max didn't like that answer at all, but Dark continued before she could get a word in.

'I know you feel responsible for your flock Max, but it's _my _responsibility to keep you safe as well as stealing this particular piece of artwork. It's my field and with Krad around, it will be dangerous.'

'Don't patronise us, we've faced danger practically 24/7 for the last 14 years, we can handle it,' argued Max.

'Like you handled Krad when he attacked Angel?' Daisuke was very reluctant to relay that message and he had a good reason why.

Max was clenching her fists and pure murder was written on her face, it was a frightening image and the flock made sure to stay on her good side. Iggy of course couldn't see but he felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end by the shear anger that Max was emitting.

'He's got a point Max,' informed Iggy.

Iggy could feel Max's anger now directed at him but he had to make Max see sense. Her stubbornness and anger were clouding her judgement and it could get them all in trouble…not that she doesn't do that anyway.

'We don't know how to handle the situation and at the moment, Dark knows best. He's faced this guy before and knows his weaknesses; we'd only get in the way. It's not what you want to hear but it's the truth Max. Get over it.'

No one moved or said anything for a moment.

Max then walked to the seat opposite Iggy and slumped into it, fuming as she did so. Iggy could feel her glaring at him and he smirked.

'Never mind Max, I'm sure you'll get your chance to beat the bejezas out of Krad when we rescue Fang. No doubt he'll join you.'

'Right then, do we have your word that you're going to stay put?' prompted Daisuke/Dark.

A glare was sent his way and Daisuke retreated into the sofa. Max gave a small sharp nod and continued to glare at Iggy.

Daisuke let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

'_Look__s like we have a plan then,'_ said Dark.

* * *

The next day, the plan went into action. Daisuke went back to school and convinced his Sensei that he was well enough to be there. He gave Satoshi back his note book, which contained a little card with the time, place and artwork he would steal and asked him to come alone. There was also a letter from the flock to Fang, who Satoshi discreetly passed to during class. Fang was in a better mood for the rest of the day.

Later, Satoshi told his father he was going out, his excuse being school related and headed out to the meeting point.

Dark was in control at that moment and was also heading over to the meeting point via wings express. The location was a small temple that was built into the cliffs hundreds of years ago, but its no longer being used. The artwork is a small pendant that could be separated into two halves, one side being white and the other black. The two halves make the shape of two hands linking slightly at the fingers, in an upside down prayer. Lately the magic within them has been getting restless and causing some of the cliff to break off into the sea.

The entrance to the temple could be mistaken for a giant crack in the cliff, keeping the temple secret from passers-by. Dark landed on the sand before it and went inside. After the narrow jagged entrance the walls smoothed and curved overhead to form an archway that lead into the main chamber. Satoshi was already there and had lit the many torches around the room, revealing a large strange alter and a statue of a beautiful woman behind it. She had long flowing hair and a flowing dress that almost made the hair and cloth seem as one. Her head was held high and her eyes gazed at the chamber before her as though expecting them. Around her neck was the two piece pendant resting against her bust and her own hands were placed below it in the same position of an upside down prayer.

'It's beautiful isn't it?' said Satoshi. He was standing before the alter and was staring up at the woman's face.

'Do you know who this statue represents?' questioned Satoshi.

'A Greek goddess perhaps,' Dark guessed. Satoshi chuckled

'If I told you that the people who worshipped here were neither believers of Gods nor were they Satanists, who do you think this is? Have another guess.'

'Nothing comes immediately to mind,' replied Dark.

'So this temple was so secret that not even you would know of its origins. Well, even I found it hard to research it after you told me the name. Apparently the worshippers of this temple worshipped Mother Nature. They brought fruit and flowers to this temple in hopes that Nature would favour them and protect them from natural disasters. It was in here, however, when they were paying respects that a huge unexpected storm occurred and caused the tides to ride dramatically. Water swept into here and most of them drowned, those who survived never came back or tried to convert anyone to their old beliefs. It's all theory though; no one knows the true facts. Most likely someone discovered their religion and tried to wipe them out. That's how most religions die out.'

'That's very informative, but it's not the reason why we're here.'

Satoshi sighed, Krad was getting impatient as well, as soon as Satoshi told him he would be having a one on one against Dark, he was thrilled and wasn't going to ruin this chance by telling Kei. Dark was his and his alone to defeat.

Krad transformed without any resistance from Satoshi. Which was a strange thing for him to do but Krad was too excited to ponder over it.

'You and I both know that you would have found it easier to get past the police, than to get past me, even with those peashooters,' mocked Krad.

'Maybe, maybe not, either way, this way is more fun,' said Dark.

'Masochist,' Krad smirked. He drew out a feather and prepared himself to attack.

Dark also prepared himself. Now the hard part begins, to get a feather he will have to personally pluck one off Krad's wing, trying to snatch one of the magically activated feathers is suicide and down right impossible. In the middle of this he has to somehow get the pendent and get out of there.

Krad took off into the air, as though trying to tempt Dark into going for the pendent. The chamber was large and had a high ceiling so it was possible to fly; Krad disappeared into the shadows above before lighting the whole room with a powerful attack.

Dark dodged the attack and he too took off into the air, deciding to stay low and get to the other side of the chamber. More missile-like attacks rained down and Dark veered left and right to avoid them. When Dark was getting close to the alter, Krad dived to intercept him and forced Dark to retreat with a large ball of magic that left a gaping hole in the floor.

If Krad keeps this up, it won't be long until he's worn down, thought Dark.

'_But if he's too tired__, he might force Satoshi in control to stop you from attacking him, and if you don't attack or try to get the pendent soon, Krad will eventually catch on'_ warned Daisuke.

'Don't distract me now Daisuke!' Dark yelled.

He turned just in time as a feathered missile swept past his shoulder.

'Do you still let your tamer boss you around? He has you tied to a leash like a dog; I bet he even has a collar with your name on it!' Krad laughed.

In retort to that insulting comment, Dark flew up while Krad was still too busy laughing and shouldered him in the gut. Krad wheezed and doubled over, too much in pain to keep flying, he leant onto Dark and his weight caused them both to fall, punching and kicking each other as they went. When the ground became a little too close for comfort Dark broke away with a snap of his wings and watched as Krad, who didn't notice the upcoming ground, fall with a thud.

Krad lay there with no sign of getting up and Dark was worried that he may have seriously hurt himself…worried for Satoshi's body, Dark corrected. He walked forward cautiously and bent down to see the damage, he visually scanned Krad for any serious injuries but he doesn't seem to have done anything other than knock himself out. If that's true then why hasn't he turned back into Satoshi?

Suddenly Krad's hand lashed out and caught Dark's arm in a painful grip. Krad was now 'awake' and grinning like a mad Cheshire cat.

'You should never help the enemy, even when they're down!'

With unnatural strength, Krad threw Dark over him and collided hard with the wall just beside the statue. Dark slid down and landed on his head in a comical fashion. The wall now had a crumbling hole where Dark once was. Clutching his head and arranging himself so the world wasn't on a tilt, he looked up to see Krad standing and walking towards him. He didn't have a scratch on him.

Dark growled in annoyance and got up shakily, Krad was approaching, grinning with feather in hand. Dark wasn't in a state to escape this attack and prepared his own feather, making mental apologises to his Light.

At some unheard signal, both Angels activated their magic, Krad sending another round of missile feathers and Dark put up a shield to stop them.

Unexpectedly there was a flicker of light just beside them and they turned to see the pendant was glowing. Each hand was shrouded in an eerie light, the white hand in a yellowy hue and the black hand in a deep indigo blue, strangle similar to Dark and Krad's magic. The two colours seemed to be fighting each other and as the seconds passed the battle became more intense as they began to grow brighter and they intermixed, trying to win over the other. The light display made lights and shadows dance along the walls like light refracting through water and when the walls were starting to crumble, both Dark and Krad knew they had to do something, fast.

They both leapt at the pendent, Dark grabbing the black hand and Krad grabbing the white. As soon as they made contact the colours became fiercer and spread further to encase Dark and Krad in a sphere of blinding colours.

They pulled with all there might to separate the hands and the magic, although they couldn't see it they could hear the sound of the walls and ceiling cracking and rocks falling at a deadly rate. Even if they had made a run for the door, the place was falling down far quicker than they could run.

Gritting his teeth and using his other hand to grab hold of the statue, Dark used it as leverage to pull him and the hand away. The hands shifted so their palms no longer connected, and it was just the fingers that were still persistently staying together. Krad took Darks example and used the other side of the statue to pull away and finally the pendant came apart. The lights retreated back to their original hand but didn't dim; instead they seemed to turn on their holders and shoot out of their hands and straight into their chests, knocking them to either side of the chamber and into unconscious.

When Dark awoke, he had a splitting headache and the world started spinning when he tried to sit up. Within his blurry vision he saw Daisuke lying on the ground amongst the fallen rocks and Satoshi was leaning over him and they were kissing. Dark rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger and thought he must be hallucinating, did he bang his head when he…now what did just happen? For a few moments Dark sorted through his memories and remembered what happened. With a no longer pounding head and a clearer mind he took in his surroundings properly.

The whole chamber was covered in dust and rocks in various sizes; the one he was currently leaning on for support was about the size of a small car. The chamber walls were no longer smooth, but jagged and crumbled and the ceiling was like the inside of a cave with stalactite shaped remains of rocks that did not fall. Above the now caved-in entrance was a huge hole that revealed the clear night sky and a full moon, which was the only reason Dark could see anything, because the torches were all buried. The only thing that wasn't affected at all, was the statue of Mother Nature, who was bathed by a direct beam of moonlight.

Unfortunately he wasn't hallucinating earlier, Daisuke _was_ lying on the floor amongst the rocks and Satoshi _was_ leaning over him, but they _weren't_ kissing. It was worse…Satoshi was performing CPR.

Panic flooded Dark's system, how did he get there? What happened to him? Is he alright? Dark tried talking to Daisuke mentally but could no longer feel Daisuke's presence. Scared and on the brink of hysteria, Dark forced his protesting limbs to stand him upright and stumble over to him.

By the time he got there Satoshi was putting the unconscious but breathing Daisuke into the safety position and Dark sighed in relief before collapsing.

'Please don't do that, I really don't want to perform CPR on you,' said Satoshi breathlessly.

His shirt and trousers were filthy and he lost his glasses somewhere, but other than that he looked alright.

'What happened to Daisuke?' asked Dark anxiously.

'I'm not sure, all I remember is suddenly finding myself in control and the world seemingly to fall on me. I found Daisuke like this,' he replied frowning. 'If you're here, and Daisuke's here, you don't think-'

There was a loud groan from the side of the room and golden haired man resurrected from the dust and began sneezing heavily.

'And here I was hoping he got buried alive,' muttered Satoshi groggily.

Krad sneezed again and clutched his head with one hand; his other was supporting him upright.

'Itai, I feel like a mountain fell on me,'

'It was actually a cliff but close enough, the feeling's mutual' commented Dark.

Krad's golden eyes pieced the moonlit room to give Dark an evil glare, his eyes then widened in shock at just whom he was sitting next to.

'Just what kind of magic is this?! Not even all the Hikari magic put together could do this!'

'That's because I don't think it was a Hikari piece of artwork,' informed Satoshi.

'Then just what was it?!' seethed Krad.

'I don't know I'll have to do some research.'

There was movement from the red headed teen and his eye's slowly opened. Dark was soon by his side and helping him to sit up.

'Daisuke? Daisuke, are you ok?' asked Dark worriedly.

'Dark?' said Daisuke confused.

'Yeah it's me, how many fingers am I holding up?'

'Four, but Dark? How come you're-?'

'That's good then, at least we know you haven't got brain damage,' Dark joked, although his heart didn't seem to be into it.

'Are you sure you're alright Niwa-kun,' persisted Satoshi.

'I'm fine! But what's going on!' shouted Daisuke frustrated.

Before anyone could answer, Krad took advantage of Dark's distraction and gave him a warning shot of magic that almost hit Daisuke, who froze wide eyes.

'Before you start fretting over your little fetish, we have a score to settle, and this time there are no limitations,' challenged Krad.

Dark was furious, the bastard nearly hit Daisuke on purpose, now he's going to pay. Dark slowly stood up and faced Krad.

'No limitations?' Dark repeated.

Krad grinned in confirmation.

'Ok, I'll start,' said Dark.

Before Krad knew what happened he felt an agonising pain in his groin and was face down in the dirt.

'Get up,' Dark threatened.

Despite being in a lot of pain, Krad grinned.

'I've never seen this side of you before Dark, I kind of like it.'

Dark sneered disgustingly and aimed a kick for Krad's ribs, except they never made contact. Krad had rolled out of reach and quickly got to his feet.

The next few moments were a blur, they punched, kicked and bit, but didn't use any magic what so ever, it was as if it was a competition to see who will break to use magic first. Of course, it was Krad. What was once a brawl between men was now a battle of power between Light and Dark.

Daisuke had never seen Dark fight so desperately before, Dark was known to avoid getting into harms way as much as possible, but now that he had his own body, he didn't have to take into consideration the condition of his host. What scared Daisuke was that Dark didn't seem to care what danger he was putting himself in.

The two Angels were in a beautiful, yet deadly dance. Both were set on taking the other out and seemed to have forgotten about the two young boys who watched fearfully from the sidelines.

Soon, Daisuke couldn't take it anymore.

'STOP IT!!'

Dark froze in the air and turned where his tamer made his desperate cry. Krad had also stopped and growled in annoyance at the source of interruption. With a quick, cruel decision, Krad dived towards Daisuke and grasped him by the neck, hauling him at least 4ft off the ground and started choking him.

'Krad! Leave him out of this! This is just between you and me!'

'Then perhaps you'd like to tell your pet to keep his trap shut,'

'Put him down Krad,' Dark growled.

Krad's eye's brightened, 'Oh? I see, I threaten your little host, and then you become aggressive, that's interesting, very interesting.'

'Leave him alone Krad, he hasn't done anything to you.'

Satoshi's response was a backhand to the cheek.

'You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that, and you'd best stay out of this as well Toshi-kun because my patience is running thin-, ow! You little brat!'

Daisuke had been struggling in Krad's grip and had managed to hit one of Krad's forming bruises. In Krad's anger, he threw Daisuke into the crumbled wall where he hit his head and fell unconscious once again.

'Daisuke!'

'BOMBS AWAY!'

Suddenly a small round object flew through the large gap near the entrance and smashed to pieces at Krad's feet. He suddenly stumbled back, covering his mouth and nose and looked like he was going to be sick. Dark quickly rushed over to Daisuke and quickly took off before he got a good lungful of whatever made Krad feel ill. He flew up to the gap and landed inside it. Reaching to the other side and to freedom, he noticed four large familiar silhouettes in the sky.

'Look who it is, it's the guy who was saved by a stink bomb,' giggled Gassy.

'One of the best we've made,' boasted Iggy.

Gassy and Iggy flew past each other and high fived.

'You were gone for sooooooo long, do you know that Daisuke has to get to school in two hours?' commented Nudge.

'I thought you promised not to come,' said Dark taking off from the gap, making sure Daisuke was securely held in his arms, 'Never mind, let's get out of here.'

It was only when they had got back at the Niwa's house did the flock realise that Dark and Daisuke were now two separate people.

Being badgered by both the flock and Daisuke's family, Dark had the tedious task of retelling the story of tonight's plight and by the end of it Daisuke was starting to wake.

'Oh Dai-chan! My poor baby!' Emiko hugged her son and made it difficult to breathe.

'Mom! Need…air-'

She abruptly let go but still smothered him with motherly affection.

'So did you guys get the feather?' Max cut in.

Dark went cold, as everyone looked at him expectantly. At the beginning he remembered that was the point of that theft, but when he was fighting he completely forgot about it. Dark felt absolutely disappointed and angry with himself. There was never going to be another opportunity to get the feather before Angel's condition becomes critical.

'Yep, we got two actually.'

Daisuke opened his hand to reveal two slightly ruffled but intact white feathers.

* * *

**Dark and Krad having to work together! (dies of shock) This chapter is really for DNAngel fans, like me, I like it when Daisuke and Dark are one person but now it can get more interesting now they are two different people. The whole Mother Nature worshipping thing is something I made up on a whim, I surprise myself with what I can come up with. We will soon be saving Fang and beating up Krad again. No offence Krad fans.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hiya! I'm back! I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry I've taken such a long time to update, I've had a serious writters block and the work load has increased at college :( Thank you to all who have been reading and have made it this far, and rememeber your reviews are my motivation so if you like it review! if you don't, review anyway. I will not be put off by negitive comments.**

* * *

Angel was bored. There was no other way to describe it. She has no idea how long she has been stuck like this and for all she knew she could have been sleeping for years. The fear she once held when she first got here, had long ago dissipated and finding that nothing was actually happening, she had become bored. There was absolutely nothing to do.

There were no walls to her prison, just a perfectly flat floor that was plan and grey and it didn't seem to have a temperature when she sat down. Neither the floor nor the air was hot or cold, it wasn't dry or wet and there were no sounds or smells for her to identify, except nothingness. This place was empty and it was driving her nuts!

She had tried to communicate to someone with her telepathy, but she got a splitting headache for trying. Once or twice she swore she heard Max, but it was distant and it only lasted a moment. She wasn't sure if it was real anymore.

Again! She heard it again! It was Max's voice alright but she couldn't hear the words. Suddenly the ground shifted beneath her feet and she lost her balance. Ok…that hasn't happened before…is Max trying to get in? Angel blinked as something fell on her face; she wiped it away and saw that was water. Where did that come from? She looked up to see the black sky was slowly pulling itself apart like a piece of paper and a huge tear split the sky in half. A bright light shone through, and something was silhouetted against the brightness and was getting larger and closer.

'Angel! Are you alright?'

'Dark?!'

Dark landed on the floor and immediately was toppled over by Angel rushing into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

'Waaaaaah I thought I was never going to see anyone again! Please tell me you're going to get me out of here?!' she cried.

Dark smiled at the sight, glad she was alright and falling for that adorable pout and Bambi eyes.

'Don't worry, I've come to get you out, but are you sure you're alright? You've been stuck here for 4 days'

'Is that all?' Angel tilted her head curiously.

Dark shook his head amused and picked himself up with Angel securely in his arms. Beating his wings he flew through the tear he created and into the light.

Angel slowly awoke and felt something wet on her cheek, she wiped it away and opened here eyes to see what it was. It was water. She then looked up to find the source and saw a tearful Max leaning over her. Seeing her in tears, Angel also started crying and reached out for her. Max embraced Angel in a tight hug.

'Oh my baby! I was so scared I was going to lose you!' Max cried.

'Baby?!' Daisuke whispered shocked.

'She isn't really Daisuke,' Gassy whispered back before giving an Angel a hug too.

After everyone had said their worries and relieves they brought Angel back downstairs and Emiko ran straight to the kitchen to fix a huge breakfast.

Dark held Daisuke back to talk to him in private. This was a completely new experience to them, as they've never actually spoke to each other one on one before.

'So…er…this is strange isn't it,' said Daisuke awkwardly. Dark didn't say anything, his eyes were focused on the floor and he had an unreadable expression on his face.

'Are you ok Dark?'

Dark finally moved, he walked over to Daisuke and trapped him within his arms. Daisuke stiffened and blushed, not knowing what to make of this sudden show of affection.

'D-D-Dark?' Daisuke stuttered.

'I was really scared tonight Daisuke.'

'Huh?'

'I couldn't feel your presence when I woke up in that chamber; I was scared that something horrible happened to you. When I finally saw you, you were separated from me, in a body of your own and… Satoshi was performing CPR on you.'

Daisuke was shocked, firstly from Dark confessing his insecurities and then hearing that he was in a position where he would have been dead if Satoshi wasn't there…Daisuke shivered.

Dark released Daisuke and placed his hands on his shoulders and made his eyes level with Daisuke's shocked orbs.

'For just a moment, I thought I had lost you Daisuke and…' Dark looked away, struggling to find the right words, 'without you…my existence wouldn't mean anything…'

'Dark I-I d-don't understand…'

Dark sighed and stood up from his crouched position in front of Daisuke and walked towards the window and leant against it.

'You are my Light Daisuke, my other half, you are part of me. You ARE me. I'm not complete without you, get it? You can be so dim sometimes,' Dark said gruffly.

Daisuke was baffled by Dark's sudden change in attitude and didn't like it how Dark was belittling him like that.

'What's with you? I'm fine aren't I?'

'That's not the point!'

'Then what is the point?! You know, forget it! I don't feel like talking to you and I'm tired, screw school.' Tears were threatening to flow from Daisuke's eyes but he wasn't about to show how hurt he is in front of Dark.

'Get the f*** out, Dark.'

Dark was shocked beyond reason. Daisuke swore, he never swears. Maybe he was a little harsh but Dark couldn't help it, Daisuke is completely oblivious to subtle hints, and Dark's personality and pride forbids him from expressing his feelings outright; the fact that he cares about Daisuke.

'Look Dai-chan I'm sor-'

'GET OUT!'

It was only when Daisuke heard the door click shut and the sound of footsteps fading away did he let the tears free. He quickly climbed into bed and dived under the covers without bothering to change. He hugged his pillow and let it soak up the liquid escaping from his eyes. He was shaking from shock and anger, Dark literally told him that he almost died this time, and did he take into consideration how scared he was after hearing that? No, he makes it sound like it was all his fault and his existence is a hindrance but a necessary for Dark to exist too. It's like he doesn't even care, and just when Daisuke thought he was starting to understand Dark and vice versa.

Why?

Why does Dark have to do that?

Dark was angry at himself, he should have known better than to treat Daisuke like that. Why does he even care so much, why did he hug him? Dark stomped down the stairs and went out the front door. He needed some air.

* * *

'Risa! Come on! We're going to be late!'

At the end of a grand staircase, inside a rather large mansion, Riku Harada waited impatiently for her twin sister to get ready. They weren't going to school today. There was a competition made by a local library to write a fictional story about two star crossed lovers, to celebrate Shakespeare's success. The winning piece would be based on originality and how well the story is written. To Riku's aggravation, Risa won the competition when she sent in her wish-it-were-true story concerning a certain phantom thief and a helpless maiden described as a young brown haired fourteen year old who were madly in love. The prize for the competition, is to have the story published and be given a certificate. A preview of the story would also be printed in the local paper. The prize giving also happens to be on a school day and at 9 o'clock in the morning. It's now 8:45.

'I'm ready now!'

'Finally'

Riku looks up the stair case to glare annoying at her sister, only to widen her eyes in shock and sputter incoherently.

'W-what the hell? Why are you dressed up like that?!'

Risa was dressed very smartly; she wore a feminine white jacket and knee length skirt with a light purple blouse and had a pair of white stilettos on her feet. Where she got those from, Riku had no idea, but what also had her shocked was that Risa was wearing makeup and her hair was tied up in a twisted bun. The whole image made her look, not as a fourteen year old school student, but as an adult. If Riku didn't know any better, she would swear it was her mother, who had shrunk a head in height, coming down the stairs.

'What? It looks alright doesn't it? Or does my butt looks big in this?' Risa said twirling.

'That's not the point! Why are you going out like that? You look like you're about to go on a business meeting or something.'

'Really?! That's great Riku! I feel a lot more confident about this now, if I look like an adult when they take my picture, then maybe Dark will see it in the paper and like me even more!'

'Hang on! You did all this to impress that pervert?!'

'It's only you who thinks he's a pervert Riku, and he's not the only reason I've dressed up like this…' Risa trailed off nervously, 'I kinda lied about my age when I sent it in. The competition was for people of 18 years and above…'

'SO YOU ENTERED THE COMPETITION ILLIGALLY???!!!'

It took the whole journey in the limo to cool Riku down, and the remains of her anger was still evident as she stayed at the back of the crowd to vent the rest out. She couldn't believe that her sister would take such extremes just to impress a guy, and not just some guy, but a thieving, flirty, perverted just recently become murderer…

Riku watched her sister smiling and laughing for her few moments of fame and held the certificate up for the camera. Why does she still want Dark after he's killed someone in cold blood? He's a monster.

Risa was taken inside the Library building, with the mob of cameras and reporters close behind. Riku sighed and turned away, she really didn't want to come here in the first place. She started to wander and found herself some peace of mind, she had fully calmed down and took the time to enjoy the fact that she had no time limit and that she had the freedom to go where she liked. That is, until her sister found her of course. When was the last time she gave some time to herself?

She ended up strolling through the main street and past the shops, where she received some curious looks and concerns of why she wasn't in school. She paid them no mind though, and just went where her feet took her. Sooner or later she began to feel tired and parked herself on the first empty bench she found. She lent her head back and stretched her arms over hear head. There was a tree branching over her and Riku suddenly had a flashback of when Daisuke was sitting here in the summer, when the trees were lush and green and he held his hands out to catch the diamond shaped light that shone through the gaps in the leaves. It was a cute and innocent image, like a carefree child.

Once rested Riku got up and decided to take a path that goes along the coast so she could watch the sea. It was a dull grey today, there were dark clouds rolling in on the horizon, forecasting the coming storm and a strong cold breeze bit her skin. It wasn't as nice as she thought it would be. She prepared to turn back to the trees, where they would act as a barrier against the chill, when something caught her eye. There was an area of cliff that jutted further out to sea; the cliff sloped inwards so there was little support beneath it. It is off limits, not only because it is private property but it's dangerous as well and Riku could see someone up there, sitting with their legs thoughtlessly hanging over the edge. Anger surged through her and she forgot about the cold, it really aggravates her when people don't follow the rules even when it's for their own safety. She was going to sort that person out.

There was no path to this area so Riku had to find her way through woodland and hope she was heading in the right direction. She got lost a few times, once she almost plunged to her death when the trees suddenly stopped and nothing but air was the only thing she could step on. She was clinging to the nearest tree for dear life for a few minutes to get over the shock. This is why they give you specific warnings not to wander off the path!

Riku was overly cautious the next time the trees thinned, but thankfully, there was solid ground before it…or as solid as a could-fall-at-any-minute piece of rock could be. The area was overgrown with long grass and wild flowers and it was obvious that people have been up here as there were little trails where as the grass was parted and flattened. Riku slowly followed a trail down to the cliff edge until she was just a few metres behind the persons back. She was just about to yell and tell this guy off when she thought better of it. The guy isn't even aware that there is another person here, if she were to yell at him, she might make him jump and fall to his death. She certainly didn't need that on her conscience. She took another direct yet safer approach. She walked up behind him, grabbed his collar and hauled him up and threw him into the grass, ignoring the surprised protests.

'What the hell do you think you're doing? This isn't a playground, it's dangerous here.'

The guy sat up rubbing his head, his face hidden by a curtain of dark hair.

'I think the only thing dangerous here is you,' he retorted.

He looked up and both he and Riku gawked in surprise.

'What are you doing here?!' they said in unison.

'That's none of your business,' Dark sneered.

'Like I wanted to know!' Riku yelled back.

Dark covered his ear and grimaced, 'Do you have to scream your head off every time we bump into each other? It sure doesn't make your voice any better to listen to.'

'WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!!!' Riku screamed, offended.

'If you're just going to stand there screaming then I'm leaving,' Dark got up and started walking to the direction of the trees.

'Wait.'

Dark stopped but didn't turn around.

'Why did you do it?'

Dark didn't answer. He knew what she was referring to but didn't make any attempt to defend himself.

'I always saw you as an honest man, even though you are a pervert-' a vein throbs on Darks temple, 'and a thief; you've never hurt anyone to get what you wanted.'

'If that's how you've see me, then why do you doubt me?'

'Well, I don't know how that perverted mind of yours works, for all I know you've finally cracked.'

Dark was getting really aggravated now, every time this girl talks about him, the word pervert always finds its way into every sentence.

'Well,' he said stalking towards her, 'if I have really lost it then it's not really safe for you to be in my presence.'

Riku backed away fearfully, only to find that she was now trapped between him and the cliff edge. Crap.

'Although,' he continued, now standing just a foot away from a scared stiff Riku, 'I think that if I were to lose it, it would be because you have driven me to my last nerve with your judgemental accusations.'

Dark reached forward and Riku flinched away, shutting her eyes tightly.

'You should move away from the edge, you might fall.'

Riku opened her eyes surprised, Dark had an unreadable expression and had his hand was held out for her to take.

'W-Why?'

'Are you afraid of me that much? Do you really think I could kill anyone? Do you think I would kill you?'

Riku stared at him, calculating. Eventually she chose risking her welfare with him, rather than falling painfully to her death. She gave him her hand and he pulled her away from the cliff edge while walking backwards.

'I still don't trust you, you know,' Riku said suspiciously, her confidence returned.

'I wouldn't have it any other way Riku,' Dark chuckled, 'you'd probably say that even if you did fall and I had to come rescue you, you'd probably think I was going to try something.'

'Knowing you, you probably would,' Riku commented.

Dark sighed. There was no changing this girl's way of thinking. He and Riku walked back to the trees, Riku following him back to the path so she didn't get lost again and keeping a suspiciously cautious distance behind Dark. When they reached it, Dark stopped and waited for her.

'Well, this is where I take my leave; I trust you don't need me to find your way home?' he rhetorically asked.

'Yeah go, I wouldn't want to be seen hanging around with a pervert like you,' was Riku's spiteful remark.

'That's a bit harsh, isn't it?' Dark said through clenched teeth, the vein on his temple throbbed once again.

'I would think you'd be used to it.'

Dark's eye twitched. He summoned With and took off before he strangled the girl. He headed back to the cliff, now that it was empty of a loud, biased twin sister, he could go back to his brooding in peace.

'Oi! I just dragged your ass from there; don't make me come get you again!' Riku yelled from the ground.

Dark growled in annoyance and swiftly changed direction…back to where he started. He had had enough. He landed before Riku and began purposely poking her in the forehead.

'Listen here missy, you have no right to tell me what to do, I am older than you so you should give me some respect, and frankly the likeliness of me falling to my death is nil, because unlike you, I have wings.'

Riku swatted his hand away and got her own back by poking him painfully in the chest.

'That doesn't deny the fact that you shouldn't be there in the first place, besides,' she stopped jabbing him, and glared 'did it even occur to you that people on the coastal path can see you? The way you were spaced out, you would have been easily caught. Just consider yourself lucky that it was me who found you.'

'I didn't know that,' Dark said surprised. Now he was hoped that there was no one on that path when he and the flock were flying about. Through his musings something occurred to him.

'Wait a minute, why would you be concerned whether I got caught or not?' Dark asked slyly.

'I-I'm not!' she sputtered, 'I don't plan on covering for you again Dark, this is just…paying you back, for saving Risa when she got kidnapped. So don't start getting ideas!'

Riku huffed and strode away from Dark before he twisted anything more.

'Riku!'

Riku stopped and peered over her shoulder, frown set on her face.

'Do you…think I'm a bad person?' Dark asked quietly.

'Huh?'

'Never mind, you're probably not the right person to ask,' Dark said quickly.

'Oi! Now who's being judgemental? Why are you asking? You've never been self-conscious before' Riku asked curious.

Dark wasn't sure if he should say more, he felt insecure enough just trying to express himself to Daisuke, so he chose to remain silent.

Riku waited and sighed upon not receiving an answer.

'That's just one of your problems Dark, if you can't tell anyone what's wrong, then how do you expect me to help?'

'Who says I need your help? Don't think so highly of yourself.' Dark sneered waving her off.

'There's your second problem, you brush people off with that attitude. You don't really take other peoples feelings into account before you open that big mouth of yours. You hurt people Dark and the people you care about are going to suffer the most, and all for your pride, which is why I don't want Risa getting involved with you.'

Riku noticed Dark go stiff and his mouth turn into a thin line. She must have struck a nerve.

'You've already hurt someone close to you, haven't you?'

Dark bowed his head but didn't say anything. Riku was right. Problem was, he was too much of a coward to admit it.

'With you being a thief and all, maybe it's in your nature to hide your emotions like you hide in the shadows. So perhaps…if you want to change Dark…to make the person you like happy and improve yourself…then…you're not going to like this but I think the best way is to stop thieving. Stop being the Phantom Thief…and be Dark Mousy.'

Dark hadn't moved so Riku wasn't sure if he was listening or not, the thought that she had tried to help him and he just ignored her made her curl her fists in anger.

'Well, think about it, if you were actually listening,' she fumed.

She turned from him and proceeded to walk down the path. It was well past midday now and she was starving. Her sister should be worried sick as well.

'Riku.'

Riku sighed and prepared herself for whatever sarcastic, insulting or perverted comment he was going to make but she was struck speechless and she blushed bright crimson at the gentle smile that Dark was giving her.

'Arigato gozaimas.'

Riku's throat went dry so she gave a curt nod and quickly walked away before her legs turned to jelly. Gaaah! Why did that guy have to pull something like that on her? He did it on purpose! That playboy!

Dark watched with amusement at Riku's failed attempt to hide how much his smile affected her, but he couldn't be more grateful either. She hit the nail on the head when she said that he should stop thieving, there was no way that was going to happen. What kind of profession is there that could match the Phantom Thief's skills? Besides joining the police force? That wasn't going to happen either, fighting against the law just to become the law? And there was no way he was going into the same profession as Creepy boy. Ick. However, now that he had his own body he could do what he liked and be who he wanted. The Niwas were the reason he was a thief in the first place, it wasn't exactly a choice, but he wasn't saying he didn't enjoy it.

Dark took off, intending to think it all over and find a new brooding spot which is inaccessible to a loud mouth tomboy…and anyone else.

* * *

Since With was impersonating Daisuke when Dark called for him he had to make a quick excuse to the teacher and rush out the room. It had gotten himself into quite a bit of trouble. When he got back after dropping dark off at the old collapsed temple, With had cringed and was almost reduced to tears at the ferocity of the teacher's scolding. He was given detention during lunchtime and he had to flip tables onto their backs and attempt to remove all the chewing gum that was stuck underneath. With was in tears under the teachers steel gaze and she showed no mercy as she didn't permit him to have any food until the job was done. With managed one bite of Daisuke's mums superb homemade Bento when the bell rang for next lesson, so With had to remorsefully put it away.

With's stomach complained loudly during the lesson, if the real Daisuke was in this situation, he would be red in embarrassment, but With was too hungry to think about how Daisuke would react. He was receiving strange looks by his fellow classmates and some were giggling at his suffering. Sensei, being the cause of his suffering, completely ignored him and acted as though he deserved it. Through With's pain, he started to hallucinate and the people around him were beginning to change form. The boy on his right had become a large plump watermelon with a slice taken out of him horizontally so it looked like it was smiling at him, the girl on his left still had her human form, but her arms and legs had been replaced with bananas. Behind him Takeshi's head had become a pineapple, the green leaves spiking out in Takeshi's hair style. Satoshi was in the same predicament as his head had become a very large pale blueberry. With was in torture and thought it couldn't get any worse until he glanced at sensei. In sensei's seat, was a giant, beautiful, luscious, ruby red strawberry.

The teacher and students stopped what they were doing as Daisuke began smashing his head against his desk. Sensei relented and allowed him to eat his lunch in class with a small content smile on his face as he savoured each bite, unintentionally ignoring some envious glares. With did a lot better playing the role of Daisuke now that his stomach was full but something felt different as he strolled to next class. He had this constant feeling that he was being watched yet when he looked over his shoulder, no one was looking at him. Apart from the fact he felt daggers stabbing into his back throughout the lesson, the rest of the day went by smoothly and with Riku and Risa absent, With didn't have to worry about walking them home so he changed back into his little animal form and swiftly transported himself onto Dark's back to take him home.

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**That was seriously hard to write, I'm no good with advising people. I thought I'd end this chapter with a funny note and also to get over 4000 words. I have homework to do now:( so cheer me up by reviewing. Ja ne. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello I'm back! Happy new year! I was on holiday over xmas so no time for writing. There is finally some action going on in this chapter so enjoy! Thank you to those who reviwed.**

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'Is everything set?' Satoshi asked

'Yes, and I found a few rotting vegetables in the bin that could come in handy,' Fang smirked.

Satoshi gave Fang a repulsed glance, 'Do I want to know what you're going to do with those? Anyway, things have just become more complicated, so we'll have to be extra careful.'

'Tell me about it.'

Satoshi and Fang had snuck into the security room, the only room in the mansion that wasn't being observed by cameras. The screens on the wall flickered light into the dark room and revealed that the mansion was completely empty, apart from the few maids and servants working. Kei was still working at the police department, the murder case had everyone in an uproar and the Chief of police was needed. Krad had taken off somewhere, no doubt searching for Dark now that they weren't bound to their tamers.

Satoshi and Fang were taking the chance to get their plans set while the evil bastards were not in the building. Last night was the beginning, when Satoshi left to meet Dark, Fang inconspicuously sent a virus made by Satoshi via his computer to screw up Kei's work files. This forced Kei to abandon his observation on Fang and sort it out. The virus wasn't going to last a long time, Kei would be able to get rid of it in a few minutes. Fang had to use his super-human speed to jump down the stairs, rush outside to the fuse box. Using those precious minutes to wait for the drug fatigue to fade, Fang opened the box, stole the spare fuses and ripped the live fuse from its place to cause a blackout. According to Satoshi, it should take twenty minutes for a servant to check it out, find no spare fuses and go into town to get some more. That's more than enough time to hide the miniature time set bombs. Problem was the location for the bombs was in the very room which Kei was in. Luckily for Fang, it was pitch black so Kei, who was muttering angrily to himself, didn't notice the door slowly opening or the little ball like shapes rolling under his chair and settling beneath the desk.

'Last nights work feels like a waste of time now,' Fang commented while peering at the little bombs near his feet.

Satoshi crawled out from under the desk, and lifted the pencil thin torch to shine in Fang's face. Fang winced and turned his head away sharply, voicing his complaints as Satoshi chuckled.

'Are you telling me you didn't enjoy putting a potentially dangerous weapon in a room my father is almost in 24/7 that's going to cause costly damage and take several months to repair?' he said while standing.

Fang shook his head, 'Maybe it was a bad idea to mention Gassy and Iggy's hobbies. This is totally something they would do.'

'Well, as immature as this prank is, it is highly effective for our purpose and I'm actually enjoying myself.'

Fang stared at him bewildered.

'I have created a monster,' Fang muttered.

Fang rose from the swivel chair and followed Satoshi out the room. With the bombs set and in position, all they had to do now was wait for the right time.

That time came unexpectedly a few hours later. Kei had finally returned in a bad mood and dinner was served shortly after he arrived. There was suddenly a lot of shouting and crashing from upstairs signalling Krad's return.

There was an uncomfortable silence at the table. Kei's anger infused aura had intensified as Krad's tantrum echoed throughout the mansion. The screams magnified then faded and both Fang and Satoshi were on edge, ready to flee if Krad should bring his temper to the dinning room. They could hear him stomping and cursing from two floors up and he was trashing one room after another.

Finally there was silence and Kei rubbed his forehead, trying to soothe his pounding headache. Fang and Satoshi didn't dare relax, now that the White Demon had calmed they had another demon to worry about, the one currently sitting opposite them.

Kei seemed to have lost his appetite and left the table with his plate half full. The boys paused their eating to observe him leave and then let out their held breaths.

'For just a moment, I saw my life pass before my eyes, I dunno about you,' whispered Fang.

'Not exactly, I saw the bill that father has to pay to repair the damages.'

Both of them snickered and then jumped when there was an enormous bang. The entire building shook and then there were shouts and screams from the servants and Kei's livid screech.

'That wasn't what I think that was, was it?' Fang asked rhetorically.

'Krad's magic must have set them off, because I didn't activate them. But what shocked me was that squeal just now, I didn't think my father had the potential to be a soprano.'

It took a few seconds to digest what Satoshi just said and then Fang was in stitches.

'You keep saying to most unexpected things…what's come over you lately?' Fang asked between breaths.

'I don't know…I've just been happier and I've just had the urge to blurt things out, even if they sound ridiculous.' Satoshi smiled.

Holy crap, Satoshi smiled. A real genuine teeth flashing smile. (Satoshi fans faint in shock)

As the evening wore on, Satoshi and Fang retreated to the safety of Satoshi's room, which thankfully was intact, while Kei was lecturing Krad on using magic in the mansion. A truly hilarious scene no doubt. With the security system out for the count, Fang and Satoshi didn't have to keep a cold exterior for the camera.

'This turned out pretty well, Krad made more damage then we'd ever achieve and he's even being blamed for the security room exploding. A good yet unexpected cover up.' Satoshi said smartly.

'I don't know if I like that' remarked Fang 'Krad's getting the credit for our hard work and we didn't even get to see Kei's reaction.'

'But if he knew it was us then we'd be getting a lot worse than a lecture, don't forget that,' Satoshi said seriously, 'besides we pretty much heard his reaction anyway.'

* * *

Kei was absolutely furious; there was at least 6,000,000 yen worth of damage and some of it was irreplaceable. The security room, after the fire was put out, was like a scene that came straight out of WW2.

When Krad had flown back last night, in his own body and carrying a ruffled Satoshi under his arm, Kei instantly knew something like this would happen. Problem was, Krad was completely uncontrollable. He'd take orders off Kei, yes, but only if it suited him. Tonight Kei had put his foot down and ordered Krad to vent his anger somewhere else. Krad had argued with equal fury and there was only a truce once both had run out of steam.

Krad's separation was just one more to add to the growing list of problems. The fake Dark murder was a success, but the amount of paper work and uncertainty among the police officers was piling high. He had to do more work than was expected and it was really aggravating on his nerves, especially when St. Saehara was breathing down his neck demanding that they get paid for over time.

Another problem was Itex. On the last phone call Kei pretended to be interested in their offer and hung up saying he'd think about it. He hasn't heard from them since, and he had a sneaking suspicion they weren't satisfied with that answer. He would have to make plans soon to finally capture the rest of the flock before Itex make a move on them.

Now he has a temperamental living piece of artwork that is harder to control than Satoshi on a bad day and was near impossible to keep grounded. Literally. There was nothing he could do about it so he retired to his room. He was so tired, that he didn't notice the smell of the rotting vegetables that were spread under his sheets.

Fang slept dreamlessly. The first dreamless sleep he'd had for days but it was short lived. Fang sat up suddenly and peered around the dark room. In the dim light from the window he could just see the outline of the computer and desk and the form of Satoshi, who lay beside him on the bed, breathing slowly and deeply. Fang shook him awake.

'Wha- what? Fang? What's the matter?' he said groggily.

'Something's wrong,'

Fang jumped off the bed and ran to the window, the hairs on the back of his head raised as a bad feeling began to coil in his gut. He ducked to the side and peered out and around the window frame, his mutant instincts kicking in. With his advanced eyesight, he scanned the area outside. It was still dark and there were plenty of shadows to hide in, the driveway was dimly lit by moonlight filtering through thin clouds.

Although Fang couldn't see anything, his instincts told him to stay alert. Fang frowned.

'Can you hear that?'

'What?'

There was an irritating buzzing sound; it began quiet, too quiet for Satoshi to hear. It then got louder and closer and the buzzing turned into clicks and whirring, like the turning of gears. Then just within Fangs hearing, came an unmistakable sound of a rush of air, like a wing beat.

'Flyboys!' was all Fang cried before he leapt at Satoshi and knocked them both off the other side of the bed.

Then the room imploded.

Fang waited a heartbeat for the debris to settle and then rushed to the door, half dragging half carrying Satoshi behind him. They had to get out of the building; there were too many places they could easily get trapped in.

Fang sprinted for the stairs, putting as much distance between Satoshi's room as possible. Ignoring any protest Satoshi would make, he swung him effortlessly onto his back and secured his arms and legs around him. Fang grabbed the banister and used his momentum to lift them both over and fall feet first between the stairs and two floors below. Fang landed like a cat, the balls of his feet hit the ground first and bent his legs to absorb the shock, but with the extra weight of another person, Fang had to reduce to all fours.

Satoshi was frozen with shock, Fang suddenly deciding to carry him was one thing, but jumping from a height which normally would have injured someone with him clutching onto them was too much. Satoshi wanted to say something but his voice failed him. Fang stood up slowly and started moving again, but was brought to a halt as his limbs began to shake and he collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily. The drug had taken affect. Satoshi used this moment to free himself from Fang's grasp and then lifted Fang as smoothly as his lack of physical strength would let him and used himself as a crutch.

Loud bangs and crashes were heard but Satoshi didn't turn around. The most important thing right now is to find a safe place to rest while Fang recovered his strength. That became impossible as something large and clumsy, landed with a mechanical clunk right in front of them. It was the strangest and ugliest thing Satoshi had ever seen. It looked like a starved wolf but it stood like a man and had hands like a man and its entire body was covered in murky brown hair. Its eyes glowed a bloody red and had its mouth set in a permanent snarl, revealing a shining pair of metal canines. It was like a werewolf out of a horror story but a unique one, for on its back loomed a pair of large dark wings.

Satoshi didn't know what to do. He had no weapons nor was he fit to fight…whatever this thing was and he had no time to react as the thing suddenly lunged at them. The thing gained a firm grip around both his and Fang's throat, but enough so it didn't choke them. It then turned its unblinking eyes to Satoshi and spoke in an emotionless, genderless voice.

'Are you human or mutant. Reply' it ordered.

'Go to hell,' Fang spat.

The thing turned its head to Fang and paused.

'Capture of winged mutant 02 confirmed, other being not required. Proceed to contain and transport to headquarters.'

The thing then shoved Satoshi away, causing him to slide along the polished floor and then used it's free arm to wrap around Fang and secure his arms to his sides. It turned with its wings dragging along the floor and Fang struggling in its hard embrace.

More explosions were heard quite close by but the thing took no notice of them. It forced the main doors open despite them being locked and caused them to split and splinter where they were joined.

Satoshi got up and quickly followed.

Once outside, Satoshi could see the extent of the attack. There were hundreds of these things! Some were flying high and circling above, some were on the ground and guarding the gate exit and some were still invading the mansion. Satoshi was speechless.

Satoshi had to suddenly dive, as another explosion burst out above the door, showering rubble and glass all over the place. The thing holding Fang stopped moving and turned its head towards the disturbance, along with the other things. The sea of red eyes made Satoshi shiver.

Something fast and white streaked out from where the explosion came and without stopping, it shot two small missiles behind it. The area exploded again with new fury and an overwhelming scent of burnt flesh filled the air. Krad paused in midair glowering at the things, which of course stood unaffected, and then laid his eyes below him, where the thing with Fang stood. If possible the frown on his face deepened and without warning threw down two feathers and removed the thing of its limbs. Fang wasted no time kicking the thing away, and with no arms for balance, it fell flat on its back.

With Fang released, the other things on the ground started closing in, ignoring the floating figure who just took out their brethren.

Satoshi and Fang stood back to back, trying to keep a distance from the shrinking circle of Flyboys.

'Satoshi,' Fang said quietly, 'would you happen to have any water pistols that you don't play with anymore?'

'This really isn't the time to fool around Fang,' Satoshi replied stiffly.

'But do you?'

'No!'

'What about a hose?'

'Fang! Why are you bringing this up?' Satoshi cried slightly panicked.

The Flyboys were closing in uncomfortably close and there was no chance of Krad coming to the rescue this time, because the Flyboys above were attacking him.

'I feel like a water fight.'

Before Satoshi knew what was happening, a strong gust of wind pushed him forwards and when he turned around, Fang was already seven meters in the air.

'Find a hose and hit them with everything you've got. I'll distract them. Hurry!' he yelled.

Satoshi ducked as several Flyboys flew over his head, it would seem that the flyboys had no interest in him what so ever. Satoshi hoped it would stay that way. He ran around the building and found a tap in the wall, but there was no hose around. He spotted the huge gardeners shed and thought it must be in there, but the doors were locked with a latch and needed a key.

Who has it? Satoshi thought frantically and suddenly paused. He realised he wasn't being his rational self; he has let those freakish…monsters get to him. He should stay calm and think it out logically. Who would have the key to the garden shed?

Gardeners. Duh.

Or at least they should have put it on the key rack. Satoshi ran around the back and opened the back door to the servants' quarters. After searching several rooms he found the rack in the lounge room with the pool table. Pool table? Satoshi didn't realise they had one. He rushed back out side, exhausted from so much running and paused to have a breather.

The battle between the Flyboys and Krad had reached higher heights, he seemed no larger than a small dog but flitted and soured through the murky sky like a twitchy fly and shot his magic in all directions. It was literally raining Flyboys and Satoshi made sure to keep an eye out for falling body parts, or whole bodies as he cautiously ran across the grass.

Satoshi stopped as another body fell at great speed unnervingly close…and straight into the garden shed, tearing a hole through the side and part of the roof and ripping the hinges of the door away.

That made Satoshi's quest for the keys completely pointless. Satoshi sighed and shoved the now useless keys into his pocket and climbed through the hole in the shed. After negotiating over the broken wood and rakes and forks and saws and shears and ladders and spades and natural fertiliser and tractor lawnmowers and other sorts of things, Satoshi finally found the hose. It was a light transportable one so it made things easier when he had to get back over the tractor lawnmowers and natural fertiliser and spades and ladders and shears and saws and forks and rakes and broken wood.

Satoshi unwound the hose from its holder, screwed it onto the tap and turned the tap as far as it would go. Rewardingly a strong spray of water blasted out of the nozzle. Satoshi aimed at the nearest Flyboy. To his surprise it cackled and sparked and the red light faded from its eyes. Satoshi grinned.

Fang had reached his limit. He had weaved and fought through the Flyboys but his drug infected body betrayed him. He had barely made it back to the ground before his body completely collapsed and he gritted his teeth in agony. Everything burned.

The Flyboys had mercilessly piled on top of him to keep him from moving and he could barely breathe. His vision was blurring and he could see darkness at the corners of his eyes. If they didn't get off of him soon, he was going to pass out or worse, suffocate.

His body felt like lead and his eyelids became heavy. Strange visions passed in front of his eyes, places he wasn't sure he'd been and people he wasn't sure he met. One of them stuck out more than the rest, a teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, smiling at him. She opened her wings and took off; flying away from him. He didn't know who she was but he felt a painful pull at his heart and didn't want her to go. He tried to reach out to her, call to her but neither his body nor his voice complied. The last thing he recalled before he passed out was a small voice calling his name.

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**Cliffhanger...woooo. Review please.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Another chapter and I think my writing is improving. I'd like to thank Mayu-chan for being the only person who reviewed my last chapter. I have a deadline next week :( so I won't be writing for a while so bear with me.**

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Rising high above the cliffs and diving among the clouds. There's nothing quite like a morning sea breeze to wake you up and make your face red with cold.

That is until a clumsy clutz flies right into you.

'Dark! Lift your wings a bit. You're letting them sag!' I shouted.

'You said to angle them down a moment ago!'

'That was when there was an updraft! Angle them with the air current, geez!'

Never in all my 14 years did I think that I was going to teach flying lessons. Me and my flock were naturals, we were born to fly, but Dark…was like a rhino who suddenly discovered it had wings. He honestly was not built for flying, sure he had a pair of wings but his body was heavy and he was constantly flying at an angle except when we were at high speeds, like now. He was also running out of breath quite frequently. He lasted longer than an average human would but still, he was no where up to our standard.

'Hang in there Dark,' Nudge cheered.

'Why him? I'm the one getting battered.'

I didn't have to look to know that the whole flock was grinning. They were flying a nice safe distance away from Dark to make sure they didn't have to put up with what I'm going through. Yeah, I was outvoted to teaching Dark how to fly properly, sometimes being the responsible leader had its downsides.

'You're dropping again Dark!' yelled Gassy.

'Alright that's enough.' I called.

Back on solid ground, Dark collapsed onto his backside, breathing as much as his chest cavity would allow.

'If he can't improve, we won't be able to fly in formation.'

'No need to remind me, Iggy.'

But we _need_ him to fly in formation. If we want to have the upper hand against Krad, we can't have Dark bumping into us or dragging behind. It's frustrating to say the least but Dark was really working hard.

'Dark is doing very well. Don't let these bullies get to you. Even we bump into each other sometimes.' Nudge said comfortingly.

Yeah, but usually it's intentional.

I looked down as I felt Angel clasp my hand. She was looking at Dark with a pitiful expression.

'What's up sweetie?'

She looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes.

'Dark's been thinking about Daisuke a lot.'

I perked an eyebrow at her. That was two nights ago, we all heard the argument from downstairs but we thought Dark would have shrugged it off by now.

'So that what he's been distracted about.' I muttered.

I frowned groggily; it is absolutely downright pointless to teach someone to fly when their mind isn't set on it. Put simply, this morning was a waste of time.

I strode over to where Dark sat and towered over him.

'Oi, get yourself sorted out.'

He gave me a puzzled glance and I just stuck my thumb in Angel's direction. No explanation needed. Dark ran a hand through his windswept hair and sighed.

'It nothing for you to worry about, I'm fi-.' He started to say while using one arm to hoist himself up. I cut him off by kicking him in the chest and he fell back to the ground with a satisfying thump, causing a few small dust clouds to form. He couched and gripped his chest where my foot made contact.

'Who said anything about being worried? I said sort yourself out thick lugs. Go apologize to him or something. Stop bringing your worries with us. We've got enough as it is.'

Dark sat up and glared at me, and opened his mouth to retaliate when Iggy put a hand on his shoulder.

'Best not to argue mate, take it from me.'

Dark took off without a word; I wasn't sure if that meant he understood or if he was pissed at me. Either way, I didn't care.

'Now what shall we do?' asked Gassy.

'I want to have a peaceful flight where someone isn't bumping into me,' I said.

'Where are we going then?' asked Nudge.

'Let's explore a bit out of town. I don't know about you but I feel stuffy for staying in one place for so long,' I suggested.

'Can we go somewhere where can get pizza?' perked Gassy.

Typical Gassy, he always thinks with his stomach. Me and the rest of the flock, none too politely declined his request. I'm not sure what it was, but there was something in pizzas, or perhaps it just was a dodgy pizza, which made Gassy's digestive system work over time. It didn't so him any harm but we had to open the windows pronto.

Taking off, we slipped into our regular formation. Up to reaching 2600ft we started playing our little games, where we would fly in different patterns or someone made a random call for a manoeuvre. One of our favourite flying games was to form a tower and make ourselves as close as possible while beating our wings in sync. The one who breaks the tower loses, and sometimes some of us would break the tower on purpose by flying into the person above or below us. If Fang was here with us, he would be the one below me. Dominating his space as second in command, and of course I'm always on top. Now don't go getting ideas about the wording.

During the times when me and Fang flew alone together, he would suddenly fly above me and lightly grip my waist. He would come so close that I could feel the heat of his body against my back and I would lose all common sense as he breathed next to my ear. Sometimes whispering sweet words and sometimes saying nothing at all. It's the most intimate experience between us and he never does it when the flock are around.

My heart clenched at the memories, how I wished he was with us right now.

I was brought out of my musings when my wings came into contact with Nudges, oops.

'Max loses!' cried Nudge.

'Seriously? Looks like it's not only Dark whose thoughts are else where,' Iggy teased.

I silently fumed to drown my embarrassment. We had flown quite a ways, so I led my flock below the clouds to search for a nearby town.

'Look look!' Gassy cried whist pointing, 'a UFO!'

We all rolled our eyes.

Dark stood in front of Daisuke's room, pondering if now was the best time to apologise. Daisuke still wasn't talking to him; in fact he'd given him the cold shoulder and totally ignored him completely. Although he didn't admit it, it was hurting Dark more than anything and the pain intensified every time he saw Daisuke.

Dark forced himself to knock on the door before he chickened out. He heard shuffling behind the door and then a click of the lock being unlatched. The door slowly cracked open to reveal a nest of messy red hair and a ruby orb peering out through the gap. Once it saw Dark, the door immediately slammed shut with a click.

'Daisuke…' Dark began.

'Go away,' was the muffled reply.

'Come on Daisuke, I need to talk to you.'

Dark waited but all he met was silence. He sighed.

'Please Daisuke, we can't keep going on like this.'

Still silence.

'You know your mother is getting worried, locking yourself in you room all the time. The guys, the flock, they're worried too.' Dark waited again. 'Did you know that Max ordered me to drag my butt over here to talk to you, imagine that, I, the great phantom thief being ordered by a little girl.'

Dark chuckled, it seemed he was only talking to himself now but it was comforting. He didn't know if Daisuke was listening or not but as long as he hasn't told him to shut up, it was okay.

'You know, your friends at school are going to wonder if something's wrong if you don't go in today. Scratch that, from what I heard off With, they probably already think something's wrong. Did you know that your sensei gave him detention and wouldn't let him eat? He started banging his head in the middle of class because he was so hungry! I can just imagine the look on their faces, especially Risa.'

The door suddenly shuddered as something hit the door. So he was listening after all.

'Why don't you come say that to my face,' Dark said playfully. Another bang hit the door. Dark suspected it was a shoe. 'Your mother won't be very happy if you end up breaking the door.' Another bang, harder and louder, expressed Daisuke's concern for the said door.

'Daisuke' Dark said seriously, leaning an elbow against the wooden barrier that stood stubbornly between him and Daisuke, 'let me in.'

Silence.

'This isn't like you Daisuke, I thought we were partners, are you going to be like _them_, the tamers that ignored my existence and left me alone.'

'But that's all you see me as isn't it?' Daisuke finally replied, 'without me, you wouldn't exist, well now you can exist without me so you can live your own life…just like you wanted'

Daisuke's voice was strained, guilt gripped at Dark as he heard his words said back to him.

'I'm sorry Daisuke. I am really, really, sorry…please, let me talk to you.'

'You've been talking to me all this time haven't you?' Daisuke said bitterly.

'No, I've been talking to a door. Open up Daisuke, please,' Dark said almost pleadingly.

Dark heard footsteps towards the door and they paused. A click signified the unlocking of the door but it did not open. The footsteps moved away again. Dark grasped the handle and slowly opened the door. Inside, Daisuke was sitting on his bed, his feet hung over the ladder so if Dark wanted to climb up, he would have to go through him first. Dark thought himself lucky that he had managed to get inside the room, with Daisuke still in it.

Daisuke watched Dark as he settled himself below him, sitting cross legged before his ladder, and tilting his head back to look up at him. He had an unreadable expression on his face and for some reason, Daisuke felt like pouncing on him and punching that pretty face to a pulp. Let's see how many girls he can attract then.

Dark didn't say anything for a while and observed Daisuke's reaction to his approach. The atmosphere was hostile and Dark felt the hairs raise on the back of his head. Who knew Daisuke could be so intimidating?

Since Dark and Daisuke argued, he hasn't left his room at all, not even to eat. Daisuke's hair, as he had glimpsed a moment ago, was a complete mess. The fiery spikes that defied gravity, were limp and tangled, a lot of it had slumped forward, forming a layered curtain of hair in his face. His ruby orbs were rimmed with pink and looked puffy and sore. His heavy lids, showed the weariness of his tears and he was still wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday. Dark wasn't sure if Daisuke had washed at all either. Seeing him in this state, Dark was more concerned over Daisuke's well being than his forgiveness.

'Are you alright Daisuke?' Dark asked, concerned.

Daisuke's eyes flashed with anger and partial annoyance. Of course he wasn't alright, stupid question.

Dark felt uneasy under Daisuke's glare, last time he'd seen…well he didn't see, rather felt, Daisuke this angry was when Emiko set the lasers in the house. Now he knows why she avoids that particular subject.

Dark took a deep breath and met Daisuke's eyes, his anger had turned them a deep red and they burned silently behind his bangs. This wasn't Daisuke at all, the happy, selfless boy had disappeared and in his place was a complete stranger. Dark felt his eyes sting as water started to collect in them and his throat clenched, suddenly dry. He had done this, and he was to blame for this drastic change. He had hurt the only one who accepted him for what he was and stuck by him no matter what dangerous or tragic situation he put him through. Destroyed the smile that he lived day by day to see. What had he done?

Before he knew what he was doing, Dark leapt up the ladder steps, startled Daisuke and wrapped his arms around him. Daisuke had gone rigid but didn't say a word.

'I'm sorry Daisuke.'

To Daisuke's surprise, Dark tightened his grip on him and he could feel Darks body trembling against him.

'I shouldn't have said those harsh words. I was scared. Scared of losing you, you're the most important person in my life, Daisuke.'

Daisuke wasn't expecting this, those words were deep. Dark only spoke shallow words; everything was a joke, a game, he only thought about himself. So why was he embracing him and calling him his most important person? It didn't make sense.

'I never expected it to happen, getting my own body, I mean. I thought I was doomed to live forever, never fully living, but to share someone else's life, relying on them to be my lungs that breathe, the limbs that move, the mind that thinks and the heart that feels. Each tamer was different; each had different experiences that I could learn from, different traits, different friends and each finding different love. Ever since Rika, I never allow myself the freedom to express my love, for I was doomed to disappear from their life and awaken again when they have passed on. It hurts Daisuke. It hurts so damn much.'

Dark pulled back, and cupped Daisuke's face. Daisuke eyes widened even further at the intimate gesture and Dark smiled slightly.

'I've only just come to terms with my self, but I don't know what I'd do if you weren't in my life Daisuke. You're like no other tamer or person I've met, you're special and I was being selfish. I wasn't thinking of how you would feel; I was only concerned about my pride. I am really sorry Daisuke and I…'Dark paused.

Daisuke lightly gripped Dark's wrists and pried his hands away from his face. His head bowed and Dark wasn't sure if it was a positive or negative sign. Something fell behind his curtain of hair and hit the mattress. Dark instantly identified them as tears. He quickly pulled Daisuke back into his embrace and settled him on his lap. Daisuke dipped his head in the hollow of Dark's shoulder and his body shook as he cried. Dark wrapped an arm around Daisuke's waist and slowly ran his hand up and down his back.

After awhile, Daisuke's sobs ceased and his body relaxed. Dark continued his soothing movements and waited for Daisuke to speak.

'Thank you, Dark,' Daisuke said in a small croaky voice.

Dark was completely baffled. 'For what?'

'For finally getting that stick out your arse.'

Dark looked at Daisuke in shock and saw him smiling up at him. Daisuke giggled at Dark's expression.

'I learnt that off Saehara,' Daisuke explained bashfully.

Dark couldn't help but smile at Daisuke's laughing face, and then he started to laugh. His Daisuke was back.

The one thing I forgot when we made this trip, was the fact that none of us could read or speak Italien. We found a large town that was bustling with people, which was good for staying hidden, should Itex attack, yet not so good cuz everywhere we went had a queue. Plus we couldn't really understand any of the signs except 'Pizzeria' so you can guess where we went for lunch.

On the way back, I ordered Gassy to go at the back of the formation and keep everyone upwind of him. Every so often he would suddenly shoot forward in a fit of giggles; none of us would be laughing if we were behind him, we'd be dropping like flies.

We were getting close back to town and my in built navigation system was pulling me westwards. I angled myself accordingly and my flock followed.

'Max! Look at that!' Gassy suddenly cried.

'It was funny the first hundred times Gassy, give it a rest.'

'No seriously, check out that building.'

Building? I looked behind me to see where Gassy was pointing. Without our excellent raptor vision, I wouldn't have seen it at all, especially since we were flying above 2000ft. It seemed to be a large building that was isolated from the rest of the town. It looked to be no more than 5 miles away and a thin road lead directly from there to the town. It was a posh place by the look of it, for it had a large driveway and it even had a maze in the garden.

But there was something wrong.

I whistled to the flock and we made our decent. As we got closer, it became more and more clear why the hairs on my neck were prickling. Littered all over the place were broken flyboys, some in pieces and some still intact. The presence of Flyboys could only have meant one thing.

'Fang was here.'

We searched the place. I wasn't expecting to find him, but I was hoping to find some clues and that would hopefully lead us to Fang. We found artwork and some machinery that wasn't Flyboy and gave them to Nudge. Angel found a security camera and some keyboard buttons. Nudge said she couldn't detect much from them. The camera hasn't been touched since it was set up and the key board keys showed her, police reports, documents and photos. Either this guy was tapping into the police system or was a policeman himself. There was no way we were going to the police to find out.

After finding all we could, Nudge settled herself against a pile of dead Flyboys, exhausted. She then frowned and laid a hand against them.

'What is it?' I asked her.

We tried to keep contact with the Flyboys to a minimum, because we weren't sure what horrid things they had been ordered to do and we didn't want Nudge to become mentally disturbed by it.

'It's all wet,' she grimaced, and wiped her hand on her skirt.

I sighed; relieved it wasn't anything worse than that. The air was getting colder and a draft had picked up.

'We better start heading back,' I said looking up.

The sky was darkening as time passed and I had a feeling it was going to rain. I released my wings from my clothes and ruffled my feathers, getting ready to take off.

'Max!'

I whipped round to see Nudge on her knees, her hand was pressed into a gap between the Flyboys and for a moment I thought her arm was trapped. I rushed over to her as she pulled her hand out, a large black feather entwined in her fingers. I kept still and watched her, her eyelids flickered in her trance.

'Fang was here!' she paused, 'just last night! The Flyboys came and…' I waited. Suddenly she was in tears and threw herself into my arms.

'He was trapped! H-he was…trying to get free, but…he c-couldn't move, couldn't breath. The Flyboys were crushing him!'

Nudge sobbed into my chest and I grit my teeth. Steeling my voice, I had to ask.

'Is he still alive Nudge?'

'I-I d-don't know.'

The rest of the flock had gathered and Iggy knelt down and started stroking Nudges hair.

'It's alright Nudge, Fang's alive, I just know it,' Iggy said softly yet confidently.

Without hesitation, Nudge latched her self to Iggy's chest and began to cry harder. Both me and Iggy were shocked at her behaviour, although with a little more embarrassment on Iggy's part.

I stood up and glanced at Angel and Gassy, who were standing on the sidelines. Angel had a small knowing smile on her lips and Gassy looked disgusted, acting as if he was going to puke. I sent a stern look his way and he just stuck his tongue out.

'Can you carry her Iggy?' I asked.

'Yeah.'

I took off and called up and away. Just knowing that Fang was alive and here just a day before us, made my resolve to find him stronger. I will not give up, ever.

'_That's the spirit Max'_

Shut up.

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**I think this is one of the hardest yet best chapters I've written. I'm not very good with emotional stuff so I've paid extra attention to that part in particular. I hope the scene Dark and Daisuke was ok and the little hint of Iggy/Nudge. Review plz.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Serious lack of inspiration and neglect is why I've taken so long to update. This is a shorter chap than usual but I really couldn't think of anything to add onto it without turning it into a chapter and a half.**

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A musky smell of rotting wood and plaster filled the room with its heavy scent. A single dimming light bulb lit the small dank room and revealed the fungus and moss growing in patches on the plain walls. Roots cobwebbed across the ceiling and down one corner of the room, seeking the moisture that had been absorbed by the plaster. The wooden door, which broke and crumbled when it was first opened, was the only entrance and exit into this neglected room. Beyond the door, the rest of the house suffered no fairer or worse. The building had long ago been abandoned and there was no one to tend to the local plant life that has forced its way into the building.

Nobody cared, neither did Satoshi.

Within the small room, Satoshi sat with his back against the wall, unconcerned about the damp patch that was gradually growing on his shirt, nor the unpleasant smell of the decaying wood that stung his nostrils as he breathed. He did not care for that fact that this was where he will be staying for at least two weeks until his father found more suitable accommodations that wouldn't be traced by Itex.

Satoshi's eyes were glazed over as last night's incident continued to play in his memory.

He had the hose and was aiming the powerful stream of water at the closest Flyboys. He was not aware of what was going on at the front of the mansion. If he did, he would have gotten there sooner. When he had finally reached the front, Fang wasn't anywhere in sight. What Satoshi had found strange, was that a group of Flyboys had piled on top of each other and were trying to crush each other. Despite him not understanding their strange behaviour, Satoshi aimed the water at them and watched, fascinated, as they sparked and died.

Satoshi never expected what happened next. A single Flyboy that had escaped Krad's wrath, with only an arm missing, flew onto the pile and proceeded to throw them, one by one to the side. As the Flyboys were removed, Satoshi noticed something was terribly wrong. Fang was underneath them all…and he wasn't moving. The Flyboy tossed the last inactive machine aside and grabbed Fang with its only arm.

Satoshi slowly reacted, bringing the hose up and aiming the stream of water in front of its flight path. The Flyboy successfully flew into it and collapsed in a heap, with Fang still in its grasp. More Flyboys were circling above and were coming closer. Satoshi was determined to protect Fang. With the jetting hose still in hand, he ran towards him desperately to out run the Flyboys. The hose suddenly snagged out of his hand as it reached its length limit. Fang still lay unconscious beneath the monstrous machine; his body was barely visible behind the soggy flesh and feathers.

Satoshi was at a loss. When the hose slipped out of his grip, the water pressure made the hose writhe and coil in a whip-like dance, jerking out of his reach and soaking him to the bone.

The Flyboys were beginning to advance. Two dived one after the other, the first carried the broken Flyboy off of Fang and the other reached out to grab him. Satoshi ran, abandoning the hose and futilely, even though he knew it, tried to reach Fang first. Neither Flyboy nor Satoshi got there. Unexpectedly a streak of light zoomed past Satoshi's head, singeing a few pale blue hairs, and connected with the Flyboy, effectively blowing it to pieces.

Satoshi looked over his shoulder to see Krad, in all his blind fury with wide wild eyes and bared fangs, his clothes were shredded and revealed his muscular chest and limbs which bulged with anger. His hair had been freed from his ponytail and struck out in a wild mane, the longer strands of gold hair clung to his back and arms. His great white wings framed him with a mixture of blood and torn feathers, the image of a true fallen angel.

Satoshi felt an overwhelming chill run through his body and he had to stop running because his legs trembled. Pure anger and hatred hit Satoshi in waves, preventing him from moving, so all he could do was watch.

Krad opened his wings fully. With a bloodcurdling cry, he brought his wings down. He did not rise to the sky as expected, instead a colossal storm of glowing feathers shot up and out like a shower of shooting stars and rained down unavoidably upon the last remaining Flyboys.

Satoshi remained still. He watched cautiously as the white angle slowly floated down onto solid ground, breathing heavily with his head slightly bowed. His once static hair had calmed and drooped in front of his eyes, hiding them.

Satoshi used what strength he had to free himself from his mental paralysis, jerkily his legs moved and closed the short distance between him and Fang. Each step became easier as he got further away from Krad. When he finally reached Fang, he noticed that was in a very bad condition. His skin was paler than usual and his lips were blue, Satoshi fell onto his knees and began performing CPR. He feared the worst. He had no idea how long Fang had stopped breathing and tears were forming in his eyes and splattering against his glasses as ten minutes passed. 15 minutes. 20.

Satoshi couldn't remember much after that, he suspected he had cried himself unconscious.

The weight of footsteps echoed dully down the hall, approaching his room. They didn't really register in Satoshi's mind so he didn't notice when the door was torn from its hinges and collapsed in pieces on the floor. A shadow stood over him and he blinked. Raising his eyes slightly, Satoshi identified the newly restored white clothes as Krad's.

He looked back at his knees.

Krad observed as Satoshi lifted his eyes, looking no higher than his kneecaps before returning to his foetal position dejectedly. Krad looked down upon the blue haired boy with a sneer.

'Get up.'

Satoshi didn't move, he didn't even respond as Krad lifted him easily off the ground by his collar and slammed him against the wall, causing the plaster to crack.

'Are you ignoring me Toshi-_kun_,' Krad seethed, with less than an inch of distance between their noses.

Krad growled at Satoshi's lack of reaction and let go of his collar, dropping him to the floor. Satoshi crumpled as he made no attempt to break his fall.

'Pathetic weakling,' spat Krad, 'You never broke when _I_ tormented you. Why is that Toshi-kun? Why is it that you cry for your friend? Yet you never cry when I cause you pain that is _so _much worse.'

Krad's anger was building, but it was no fun to take it out on Satoshi when he's like this. Perhaps he should tell him the truth, lift his suffering and then break him all over again. _His_ way.

Krad crouched down and caressed the side of Satoshi's cheek in an almost loving way.

'Only _I_ am allowed to break you Toshi-kun. You are my slave, my toy and it is my _right_ to do whatever I like with you.' Krad smirked, 'don't disappoint me Toshi-kun, or I might just cease the magic that is keeping your friend's heart beating.'

Satoshi jerked and he stared at Krad wide eyed. Krad's smirk turned into a grin.

'That's right Toshi-kun. He's alive.'

Unknowing to Satoshi, Krad had stood a short yet respectable distance away and had watched uninterested as Satoshi tried to save the mutant freak's life, spilling tears over his unmoving body. Shortly his ex-tamer gave up and he collapsed of exhaustion.

Krad had calmed by now, his anger was well and truly spent. He scoffed when Satoshi fell limp against the other teenager's body and guided his dispassionate gaze elsewhere. The building came within his vision; it was burning in places and had a massive hole gaping at the front of the building, revealing at least two floors. The hole was gradually expanding as the flames licked and burned everything to ash. The bottom floor seemed to be undamaged besides a few broken windows, but that was just the exterior.

A humorous thought came to him. What if Kei Hiwartari doesn't make it out alive? Does that mean he would inherit everything? Including responsibility over Satoshi? He suddenly had a vision of Satoshi treating him as a father figure…and was repulsed by the thought. Kei had better survive this, for his sanity's sake, or lack of.

Speak of the devil, he strode out the building. He was spitting and cursing and was turning in every direction to inspect the damage. More swearing could be heard.

Krad cocked an amused eyebrow at Kei's burnt sleepwear. He might as well have been wearing a fishnet garment because there was very little that was hidden. Thankfully Kei wore boxers underneath and they had received little damage. His skin was red, starting to blister in places but they weren't major burns.

As he staggered away from the building, Krad recoiled and closed his nostrils with his thumb and finger, trying to block the stench of burnt hair and cooked rotten vegetables. Kei ignored him and his unhidden show of disgust to head over to the two fallen boys. He sharply turned to Krad.

'Don't just stand there! Revive them!'

Krad gave him a sour look and motioned his hand for him to back off. Kei did so, and Krad made the same motion again.

'Don't play around! If you don't do it soon it's going to be too late!'

'I ain't doin nottin til you drag your stinken hide away 'om me,' said Krad, still holding his nose.

Once Kei was a breathable distance away, Krad knelt down to observe the youths. He shoved Satoshi off of Fang and placed two fingers against Fang's neck, checking for a pulse beneath Fang's cold, pale skin. There was none. Using a bit of magic, Krad inspected the damage in the brain. The cells were slowly dying but he was salvable. Krad mentally complained on how much magic he would have to use but did it anyway. Bringing out a few feathers, he laid one on Fang's forehead, one on his chest and the last on his abdomen. They glowed and sunk into Fang's body and then he began to glow.

As the magic healed Fang, he moved to Satoshi.

'Satoshi's dead,' he said coldly.

'What?!'

'Just kidding,' Krad grinned evilly.

Kei let out the breath he was holding in relief and brought himself together.

'The next time you pull a stunt like that I'll clip your wings,' Kei threatened.

Krad's grin grew, 'Well, tell me if I'm wrong but I think you just showed some fatherly concern. Could it be that you've developed some love for your son amongst your love for power?'

A scowl appeared on Kei's face.

'All I want is power. Nothing more. However, Satoshi is essential to my plan, along with the other boy. If either of them dies now, you can consider yourself a lab rat for Itex. I'm sure they'll find you as an interesting specimen.'

Despite the insult, the knowing smirk on Krad's lips was unmoved. Kei turned away and faced the burning building.

'Put the fire out.'

Now it was Krad's turn to scowl.

'That's too many orders for one night. Besides, there's no way I'm wasting energy just to restore your precious property.'

'Then where do you plan on spending the night?' Kei mimicked Krad's tone.

Krad was about to say that he'd return to his tamer's mind, but then remembered he had his own body. He growled at Kei's comeback.

'Fine, but I'm _only_ putting the fire out. You can wait on your stupid insurance or whatever it's called to rebuild it.'

The next morning Kei called some private cabs to take them to the dump they we're currently staying in and both Satoshi and Fang were still unconscious. Krad tossed Satoshi in the smallest room he found and put Fang in the room with the mouldiest bed. He himself, settled in the driest room and remained there until he became bored. Thus bringing us to the point where we are now.

Satoshi continued to stare.

'Where is he?' he barely breathed.

'Now, now Toshi-kun, it's not fair to give so much attention to him when you haven't even played with me yet.' Krad grinned evilly.

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**I think I may have made it look like a potential Satoshi/Fang pairing, but that's not going to happen in this story. It's just a strong friendship as friends and _friends _only. If you want a Satoshi/Fang pairing then write your own fanfic :P Review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**One super long chappie to compensate for the shorty before. I feel pleased with myself. Wow chapter 19 already. With no further ado, please start reading.**

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During the third lesson of the day, Daisuke gave up his attempts of focusing in class. Too much was just going on in his mind. Thank God tomorrow was a weekend.

He was resting his head on his hand and had been continuously staring out the window since his Sensei began the tedious lecture. His musings were unnoticed at first, but as soon as the rest of the class had their heads down working he was singled out. He was unaware of his Sensei's looming presence until she slammed a hand on his desk. He jerked as though awaking from a bad dream to find himself in an even worse nightmare.

He was then sent outside, where he would remain for the rest of the lesson. For once, Daisuke really didn't mind. He now had time to sort out his jumbled thoughts.

Yesterday was the most exhausting, stressful and most likely the worst day of his life. First was Dark's genuine and affectionate apology. The way he had just embraced him tightly and said those deep feelings with a shaky voice, struck a chord in Daisuke's moral. He felt guilty for forcing Dark to bring up those sensitive issues and even more so that he made everyone worry. He was such an idiot.

On the other hand, Daisuke felt a lot better now that he and Dark were on speaking terms again. The pink around his eyes had faded and his hair was once again defying gravity. Dark was back to his boisterous self and his mother cooked his favorite dish which he chowed down like he hadn't eaten in days…which he hadn't. Daisuke was quite surprised that Dark didn't comment on his eating habits, instead he just watched him with a warm smile. Daisuke felt heat rush to his face under Dark's gaze and used his mess of hair to hide his reddening cheeks.

At that point, Daisuke felt an indescribable fear. It wasn't overwhelming but it was like an irritating ache in his gut. Daisuke couldn't understand where this came from, but his naïve mind concluded that he probably fears another fallout.

The other worry that was eating at his mind was the destruction of the Hiwatari Mansion which Max and her flock had found. Did Hiwatari-kun and Kiba-san get out alright? Is Max-san's friend alright too? Are they safe? Did Itex capture them? Endless possibilities and conclusions ran through his head and usually by now, Dark would have told him to slow down and think of the most likely scenario. The thought of Dark brought back that ache in his gut and brought his thoughts to a halt.

He was acting like a child.

Daisuke slid to the floor and rested his arms on his knees, angry and humiliated at himself. Does he always act like this? He's been trained to be the phantom thief, he's faced many dangers and experiences and yet…why hasn't he grown up at all?

The bell rang and he heard the scraping of chairs and Sensei's warning to the students of the homework deadline. The door slid open and the rush of teenagers streamed out of the classroom.

'Hey Daisuke, you alright mate?'

Daisuke lifted his eyes to Saehara, who was half bent over to look at him with an uncertain expression. Daisuke sighed and forced a smile.

'I'm fine Saehara.'

'Doesn't look like it to me, are you having problems at home?'

Daisuke blinked in surprise but put his smile back on.

'Nah, I told you everything's fine, you'd better go or else Sensei will find some excuse to put you in detention too.'

'Che, I'm not afraid of that old hag.'

'Old hag eh? Then I suppose you won't mind receiving double detention Saehara,' retorted Sensei, who was leaning against the door frame.

'DOUBLE?!'

'Keep your voice down or I'll make it triple.'

'But why double,' he whispered.

'First was for that old hag comment and second is the last homework assignment you failed to give in. So both you and Niwa-san can get your butts back in that classroom and I'll be back in 5 minutes.'

Daisuke got up from the floor and followed a mumbling Saehara into the classroom.

'And don't even think about escaping Saehara!' Sensei lastly said as she shut the door.

'Old hag.'

Daisuke sat back behind his desk and stretched his stiff limbs. Saehara took the desk next to him and sat on the corner to face him.

'So what's up?'

Daisuke paused as he raised his arms and turned to face Saehara with a forced smile.

'I told you Saehara, I'm fine. There's nothing wrong. I'm just…tired is all.'

The solemn expression never left Saehara's face.

'How long have we been friends Daisuke?'

'Eh?'

'How long?' he repeated.

'Since we were kids. Why are you bringing this up?' Daisuke asked with a confused frown.

'I'm your frickin' best friend Daisuke and you can't even tell _me _what's wrong?! Everyone calls me an idiot but I'm not so much an idiot that I can't even tell when my best friend is in a pinch! Even you should give me more credit than that!'

Daisuke stared wide eyed at Saehara and turned away as a wave of guilt hit him. He was right. He should have more faith in him.

'You're right, Saehara,' he admitted, 'It's me who's being the idiot.'

'Whoa whoa whoa, now I didn't mean you had to degrade yourself,' Saehara laughed.

'But it's true.'

Saehara stopped mid laugh and stared at Daisuke's hurt expression.

'Something is really wrong isn't there?' Saehara said, turning serious.

Daisuke sighed and opened his mouth to reply, but stopped as Saehara's hand shot up in front of his face.

'Wait, don't tell me now. You can tell me later at my house.' Saehara decided.

'Your house?'

'Yeah, it's been absolutely aaaages since you've come over, yeah scratch that, you can sleep over.'

'Sleep?! Won't your dad mind?' asked Daisuke, a little sceptical at the sudden turn of events.

'Who cares, I do everything in that house so technically I own it.'

The door slides open with a bang, causing Saehara to jump and fall to the floor.

'That's why you shouldn't sit on the desks Saehara,' Sensei mocked.

Saehara's words echoed in Daisuke's mind and he couldn't help but feel guilty for neglecting his friend for past few weeks, but he also felt happy, that despite his ignorance, Saehara hadn't abandoned him. He was a really good friend. A small smile graced Daisuke's lips as Saehara once again made a pointless, yet entertaining argument with Sensei.

* * *

At the end of the day, Daisuke was exhausted and wanted nothing more to have a hot shower and a nap. After detention, which he managed to get through un-scolded thanks to Saehara, the day progressed agonisingly slow. The absence of Satoshi and Kiba made Daisuke's worry for them more evident and found himself staring at their empty seats. Saehara was helpfully flicking pieces of paper at him to bring him back to reality and avoid more trouble from an irritated Sensei. He was so glad the day was over…

'Hey Daisuke!'

…Or almost over. A familiar arm wrapped around his neck and placed him in a headlock.

'Where're ya going Daisuke? My house is this way!'

'Saehara!'

Oh yes, he forgot about that.

Saehara's house was like any other, it had two floors, a basement and an attic and it was well kept for a house that inhabited two lazy males. Once at Saehara's house, Daisuke phoned his mother to let her know what was going on. She was somewhat cheerful about the idea and Daisuke had to hold the phone well away from his ear and Saehara had gone into a panic because he thought Daisuke was being scolded. He had greeted St Saehara, who was sprawled over his armchair in the living room and had stared at him for two whole minutes before recognising and greeting him.

Saehara led Daisuke to his bedroom which was a mess. All over the desk and floor were reports and photos of past and recent news articles, some Daisuke recognised from the local press and some which were of Saehara's creation. Saehara just walked over them and sat down on his bed, the only area free of paper.

'Sorry about the mess,' said Saehara un-shamefully.

Although Saehara just walked over it like it was nothing, Daisuke pushed the papers aside with his foot, clearing a dirty crème carpeted path through the sea of white. Daisuke eventually reached the bed and sat in the space that Saehara made for him.

'You did that the last time you came here too, the carpet was cleaner then.'

'You mean you haven't cleaned it since then?!'

Daisuke quickly inspected the sole of his socks, which had become a light grey. Saehara gave a hearty laugh.

'You worry about the most trivial of things Daisuke, next you'll be hopping off my bed because it hasn't been changed in 6 months.'

As predicted Daisuke jumped off and landed on a papered part of the floor. Saehara laughed harder.

'It was a joke! It was a joke!'

Daisuke didn't find it at all funny.

'Now seriously, get your butt back over here and tell me what's been going on?'

Daisuke remained where he was and eyed the bed scrutinisingly. Saehara sweat dropped.

'Oi, oi, don't stare at my bed like that, you might offend it.'

Daisuke turned around and grabbed the paper covered swivel chair from the computer desk. Brushing the paper away, Daisuke paused and inspected the seat beneath. At this point Saehara covered his eyes in embarrassment at his friend's antics.

'You make me look like a dirty old dog! Honestly, when have you been this paranoid? Have you got schizophrenia?'

Daisuke pushed the chair forward. The wheels ran smoothly over the paper carpeted floor and placed it before Saehara with the back of the chair facing him. With no concern for the chair, Daisuke effectively straddled it and ignored the stressed cry of metal and plastic as he planted his full weight on the sad piece of furniture.

'No,' he replied.

Saehara was baffled as he watched Daisuke's behaviour. It was as if he was having a PMS moment. Sure he thought that Daisuke was a bit feminine for a guy, but was there something he wasn't telling him?

'Are you on drugs?' Saehara asked bluntly.

Daisuke frowned, 'No.'

'A secret transvestite?' Saehara guessed, scratching his head thoughtfully.

Daisuke lurched backwards at the suggestion, causing the chair to lean with him and lose balance. Paper flew with Daisuke's impact and started to settle on top of him.

'Hey there's no need to get defensive, I'm cool with it if that's your thing-'

More paper went flying as Daisuke suddenly jumped to his feet.

'I'M NOT A TRANSVESTITE!'

'Ok, ok, sheesh, don't shout at me. It was just a question.'

Saehara had his arms up in a protective shield incase Daisuke decided to attack him. Daisuke let out a long aspirated sigh and sat down next to Saehara, finding the possibly 6 month filth rigged bed to be a safer perch than the chair. Saehara let down his defense.

'I'm sorry I shouted. But I am not a transvestite ok?' said Daisuke softly.

'Yeah, ok.' Then Saehara said slyly, 'But you were being awfully defensive about it.'

'Sa-e-hara!' Daisuke stressed each sillable.

'Dropping!' Saehara said quickly.

A small pause.

'So, what has been going on that you've been acting like a right weirdo?'

Daisuke rubbed his eyes, 'Where to start.'

'From the beginning,' Saehara said enthusiastically.

The sudden enthusiasm confused Daisuke. Removing his hand from his eyes, he saw Saehara looking at him excitedly with a notepad and pen in hand.

'You are not putting this in your newspaper.'

'What?! But it would be such a good story! The emotional break down of Daisuke Niwa! It would get the girls reading.'

'I said no.'

'Please.' He begged, giving the puppy eyes.

'Put the pen and paper down.'

'Alright, alright.' deflated Saehara, placing the pen and paper beside him.

'So start talking.'

Daisuke shifted to get into a more comfortable position, resting his back against the wall and crossing his legs loosely. He then thought about how he was going to word his thoughts.

'I have this friend…a pen friend, who I've been in contact with.' Daisuke began and Saehara silently waited.

'She's from America and has quite a few brothers and sisters, but she hasn't got any parents so she's been looking after her family all by herself. Just a couple of weeks ago, one of her brothers has gone missing and she and her family are doing all they can to find him. Just yesterday the police found some evidence of the last place he's been but they don't know where he is now.'

Daisuke looked at Saehara expectantly, who was looking down with a thoughtful expression.

'So I take it you're very worried for her?'

Daisuke nodded.

'How long have you been in contact with…what's her name?'

'Ma-er-laria, Malaria.' Daisuke quickly covered. Max would kill him if he said her real name.

'Malaria!?' exclaimed Saehara, 'Isn't that a disease?' he quizzed.

Oh crap, thought Daisuke, 'Americans do call their kids strange names, there was once this famous American skier called Peekaboo.'

'What the heck does that mean?'

Daisuke made the peek-a-boo motion. Saehara watched him unbelievably.

'You're screwing with me aren't you?' he accused.

'No I'm not.'

'Ok,' Saehara said unconvinced, 'Anyway, answer my question, how long have you and Pox Girl been talking?'

Pox Girl? 'Two months,' Daisuke lied.

'That's long enough.' Saehara muttered.

'For what?'

'Has it ever occurred to you that she might be lying?'

'What!?'

'Take no offence from this Daisuke, these are just my thoughts. But it could be possible that Pox girl just made up that story.'

'Why would she do that?'

'For sympathy.'

Daisuke was confused and it showed.

'Look Daisuke, you're a nice guy, everyone who knows you knows that and that also puts you in danger of being manipulated. You've known this person for two months and vice versa and that's long enough for her to understand your personality. She might have made this whole thing up just for a laugh or she might even expect you to pity her. Give her money or something like that.'

'But she isn't like that!'

'How do you know? You've never met her face to face and even if you did, she might put on a charade to lead you into her trap. The words she writes may not hold truth in them you know. Besides that her name sounds fishy, I bet its fake.'

Saehara's face scrunched his face in disgust then looked to Daisuke who looked depressed. Oh dear.

'I could be completely wrong and she could be a decent person so don't take it to heart,' babbled Saehara quickly, 'and I'm very judgmental, I get it off my dad.'

'I am an idiot aren't I?' Daisuke whispered.

He knew deep down that Max wasn't a farce, but Saehara just thought of all the things that he wouldn't even dream of thinking about someone if the story he had made up was true.

'That's not true,' Saehara argued.

'Yes it is, I fall for the most obvious of stories and I trust too easily, and like you said before, I worry over the most trivial of things and I can't even gain the guts to tell Risa how I feel!'

Holy cow, Daisuke just said Risa's first name and without an honorific!

'Well if you wanted I could pretend to be Risa and you could practice on me,' suggested Saehara.

Daisuke gave him an odd look.

'Are you sure it isn't you whose the transvestite?'

'Naw, I'm gay.'

'…eh'

Saehara burst out laughing at Daisuke's blank reaction and fell off the bed clutching his sides.

'Ha ha…your face was…ha ha…priceless! Oh where's my camera!?'

'You were joking again!?' Daisuke yelled after regaining his composure.

'I always joke. It's not my fault you fall for them.'

'But I can't help that!'

'You're naïve Daisuke. You'll just have to grow out of it.'

'How?'

'With you…' Saehara picked himself off the floor and dusted himself off, 'I haven't a clue. You could be naïve for the rest of your life.'

Daisuke glared at him.

'But you wouldn't be Daisuke otherwise.' Saehara grinned.

Daisuke gave a small laugh, 'And Saehara wouldn't be Saehara without his strange sense of humour.'

Saehara half nodded before commenting, 'What do ya mean strange sense of humour!'

Without warning Daisuke received a face full of pillow.

'Take that!'

The conversation was long forgotten as the two boys began a battle with feather filled material. Neither giving in until St Saehara's gruff voice roared up the stairs.

'WHAT THE BLAZES IS GOING ON UP THERE!? AND TAKESHI! I'M HUNGRY!'

'WELL WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO ABOUT IT!? I HAVE A GUEST!'

'SO YOU'RE PLANNING ON LETTING YOUR GUEST STARVE AS WELL AS ME!?'

'WE'RE NOT HUNGRY YET!'

A loud discomforted growl came from Daisuke's direction and he sweat dropped in embarrassment.

'Traitor,' Saehara cried.

'TWO AGAINST ONE!'

'ALRIGHT! WE'RE COMING DOWN!'

Saehara then looked accusingly at Daisuke, 'And you can help me.'

Dinner was prepared swiftly, having decided to make a stir fry with rice and a piece of fruit for dessert. The occupants sat at their desired seats and began to eat. Once finished, Daisuke thanked them for the food.

'You're welcome,' the Saeharas said simultaneously.

'Oi, you weren't the one who cooked the food,' Saehara said through gritted teeth.

'But who pays for it hmm?' St Saehara replied smartly. 'By the way, nice apron son, you'd make a good house wife,' he sniggered.

A vein began to throb on Saehara's temple, 'You have no respect for me do you?'

'Ano, Saehara?'

'Yes?' again simultaneously.

The vein grew on Saehara's head.

'Oi, Daisuke? Why don't you just call me by my first name? You've known me long enough and I use your first name.'

'Well…I don't want to be disrespectful…'

'Come to think of it, it took you forever just to drop the –san off my last name.' Saehara pushed.

'Ok…Takeshi…kun?

'Yes?' Takeshi replied with a grin.

'…I've forgotten what I was going to say.'

* * *

Later on, Daisuke and Takeshi got changed into some pajamas and played on Takeshi's computer while casually talking. The subject gradually returned to Daisuke's problem.

'Well even if it is true Daisuke, there isn't much you can do about it other than wish her well and pray for her brother's safety. If you were in the same country, well maybe you could do something.'

'What then?'

'What then what? Takeshi asked distracted.

'What could I do if I was in the same country?'

'Get more people looking for a start.' Takeshi's eyes never left the screen.

'But what if I couldn't do that?'

'Why wouldn't you?' Takeshi looked over his shoulder to talk to Daisuke directly. He didn't answer.

Daisuke's behaviour made Takeshi suspicious but he didn't push it. He was starting to get the idea that Daisuke wasn't being entirely truthful, which was a first for as long as he's known him. He thought Daisuke didn't even have the ability to lie. Takeshi built up the courage to ask.

'Are you unable to tell me the truth?'

Daisuke was shocked, he'd been caught and this time he thought he been convincing. Takeshi looked somewhat hurt and Daisuke felt a heart wrenching guilt consume him. This was the second biggest secret he's had to keep from him, first his identity as the phantom thief and now this. He bowed his head in shame.

'I'm sorry Sae-Takeshi-kun. I want to tell you. I really do.'

'Hey, its okay I understand. Everyone's got secrets. I mean I know things I shouldn't because my dad lets it slip around the house but I can't say anything about them either.'

Daisuke gave him a smile for his understanding and relaxed.

'But…' Takeshi smirked, 'we could make a trade, as long as we keep them both secret.'

'Saehara! We can't do that!' Daisuke accidentally slipped.

'Why not? We're both trust worthy…don't give that look, I can be trusted when the time calls for it. And this secret is eating you from the inside out and the best treatment for that is talking to someone about it.'

Daisuke sighed unsure.

'I'll go first if you want.'

'Takeshi I really don't think…'

'You know Hiwartari's place?' That got Daisuke's attention. 'Late last night, this guy was making a regular delivery of something, I don't know what it was but it was a personal item of some sort and found it completely trashed. Half the building was burnt down and what's strange about it is that the size of the fire should have engulfed the entire building! Yet it was put out somehow. The fire service was not called at all but the good news is that no bodies were found inside the building but Hiwatari and his father are still missing, presumably Kiba too.'

Although Daisuke knew about most of it, it was still a shock to the system and his eyebrows crossed with worry.

'There's more,' continued Takeshi, 'the reason why none of this has reached the public yet is because there was something at the site that the police can't identify. Something potentially dangerous and it's nothing like we've ever seen before.'

Daisuke held his breath.

'There were robots Daisuke. Real, human sized robots! They were littered everywhere in pieces! They were really ugly, from what I've heard. They have wolf like heads, body of a man and, you'll never believe it, they had wings! With real feathers too! In fact the whole contraption was covered in a flesh-like skin made out of real flesh! I think that's rather disturbing. I haven't creeped you out have I?'

Daisuke was rather pale after hearing that description, Max had mentioned these Flyboys before, but for personal reasons didn't go into much detail. Maybe he would have been better off not knowing, but curiosity killed the cat, or made him ill in this case.

'I just can't believe those things actually existed and what's more is what were they built for? Why they are here? Who's behind them?'

Takeshi questioned more himself than Daisuke but Daisuke had answers to most of those questions and was debating himself whether to answer. In the end, he thought it was fair to let him know. After all, he did share something that he wasn't supposed to. Also maybe after he has some answers he won't go looking for trouble.

While Takeshi was still literally talking to himself, Daisuke moved to the only window in the room and securely closed the curtains. He then let his thief training kick in and examined every inch of the room for bugs and cameras. There were none. Max had said that Itex always know what's going on so it was better being extra cautious. Just as he was finishing his sweep, he heard Takeshi speak to him.

'Daisuke, what are you doing?'

Daisuke took a deep breath and began. He told him everything. He was careful to avoid mentioning the phantom thief but he spoke clearly and confidently and felt a great weight lift from his shoulders.

Takeshi sat speechless on his swivel chair, staring at Daisuke like he hadn't seen him before.

'If I didn't know you Daisuke I would have thought that was beyond any imaginary story I could come up with.' He managed to say jokingly.

'You believe me right?' Daisuke asked uncertain.

'You could have told me aliens were invading I would have believed it. Your honesty speaks volumes and that's one thing that I admire most about you, not many people would have the guts to say what you just did. Most would fear they'd be called crazy.'

'Thanks' Daisuke said sarcastically.

'Not even Hiwartari can excel you at that!'

Daisuke smiled at the comment and felt a lot better. He still felt he was somewhat useless but as long as there is someone who appreciates him for just being himself then…

'So what was this guy's name again?' Takeshi interrupted his thoughts.

'Fang.'

'That's sounds familiar. Hang on a second.'

Takeshi turned back to his screen and began typing rapidly. In a few clicks of the mouse he found what he was looking for and indicated for Daisuke to come over. What Takeshi had up was a blog, but it was in English.

'I can't read this damn thing but it's been quite popular on the net. This guy has been asking people to join his cause against damaging the environment or something. I don't really know. It's something Mio showed me once. Oh I wish she was still here,' he suddenly said longingly.

Daisuke read a few of the old entries where Takeshi had scrolled down the screen. All ended with 'added by Fang' but nothing really extra ordinary about the comments. However, as he rolled up the page to the newer entries Daisuke saw something that made his heart thump.

_Hey all, I'm in Italy right now and in a sparkling, old, boring mansion in the middle of who knows where. I've been separated from Max and the guys and I hope to get back to them soon. The people around here are creepy and have strange fashion senses. Keep fighting the battle! Fang._

It has to be him.

'It's him! Saehara! It's the same guy!'

'Great, that's all well and good but what good is an entry that was updated…a week ago?'

Daisuke's excitement was instantly diminished and disappointment overtook his racing heart.

'I suppose we could write up a message. Tell him we want to help,' he suggested.

'Yeah, I guess.' Daisuke replied halfheartedly.

'Hey Daisuke, level with me, what would 'Fang' mean in our language?'

'Kiba.'

'Like Kiba Koku-Yoku?' Takeshi asked curiously.

Something clicked and Daisuke's eyes widened in realisation and his heart began to pummel against his chest. Kiba Koku-Yoku. Fang Black-Wings.

* * *

**We all know that Kiba was Fang but give Daisuke a pat on the back for finally figuring it out. For some reason it's fun writing when Saehara is involved, I can just about get away with anything with him. Review plz**

**Iggy: Pox girl (sniggers)**

**Max: Shut it Iggs.**


	20. Chapter 20

**YES Chapter 20 is completed! Finally! I had writters block for this but I'm pleased how it went. Also another reason this was taking so long is because I've started another story...how I'm going to juggle the two I don't know and I've got exams coming up soon so forgive me if there is a long wait after this chapter.**

* * *

It's been awhile now. The boy awoke some time ago and the vegetation outside had dimmed the strong sunlight like an organic curtain. Spots of sun splashed the walls and the shadows retreated behind the roots and mould that grew along the walls. It stank.

He was surprised that the stench and wetness of the bed he lay on hadn't awoken him a long time ago. He was cold, but remained where he was. There was a pain in his stomach, which he vaguely remembered means his body is hungry, he thought staying still may make the pain go away. After just lying there for who knows how long, the pain just became worse and his gut began to make disgruntled noises. Enough was enough.

He lifted his body to sit upright and shivered as the air came into contact with his damp back. The wetness soaked through the pajama shirt and pants he was wearing and chilled his skin. Removing himself from the damp and moldy bed, he stumbled towards the door, momentarily forgetting how to walk.

Outside there was a landing and some stairs, which looked just as overgrown as the room he'd left. He wondered if the stairs would even take his weight. Keeping a firm grip on the rotten banister, he slowly descended the creaking steps, thankful that they didn't collapse.

Reaching the bottom, he had three directional choices. The first was to the left, which led to a large dinning room. The second was to the right, directly opposite the left option and led to a corridor with a number of rooms adorning it. The third option was a door which appeared to be the entrance and for some reason, his instincts were screaming at him to take that option.

His feet had already closed the distance and his hand was already reaching for the door handle before he even knew what he wanted. His fingers curled around the cold metal and he pushed it downwards. A sudden warmth and addition of weight was clamped onto his shoulder. With reflexes he didn't know he had, he quickly spun around and pushed his adversary away, eyes wide and frightened.

The body he had shoved barley moved an inch and his back ended up braced against the door. He had effectively just cornered himself. Unsure what to do, he looked up to see what he was up against and an unexplainable fear gripped him at the appearance of the man before him. The man was dressed in smart clothes and wore a long trench coat over the top, but it wasn't the get up that had his heart pounding and his instincts reeling. It was the colour. Every piece of clothing the man wore, even his shoes, were white.

White was a bad colour.

The man looked down at him with extraordinary gold eyes. Nothing could be read from them and they disturbingly had long narrow pupils. The long wild mane of blonde locks that framed his striking features didn't help to alleviate his intimidating appearance.

'Where are you going? You should still be in bed,' he stated simply.

The boy didn't reply and continued to stare, both in awe and in fear, at the white garbed man.

'Come on.' The man held a white gloved hand in front of him, inviting him to take it.

'Where am I?' he finally managed to say.

The man cocked his head to the side and an unwelcoming smile graced his features.

'You don't need to know.'

His tone dared him to ask any more questions but the boy collected his nerve.

'Who are you?'

'Your keeper, your guardian and master,' he said chillingly, 'I am Krad,'

'Come,' he repeated.

The boy glared at the hand invited to him and shook his head.

'I don't like you.'

Krad didn't react to the immature response but simply observed him, calculating and silent.

'I don't like you either,' he eventually replied.

* * *

Daisuke left early the next morning to get home as quickly as possible. His revelation last night had left him frustrated and he could barely sleep. He left a note behind telling Takeshi where he'd gone and left him sleeping soundly, undisturbed by his own snores. Daisuke had grabbed his stuff and left.

Now that he was standing in front of his front door, Daisuke had another revelation. How the heck was he going to explain all this? Max was going to kill him when she finds out that he had told someone else about them. He was doomed.

'Oiiiiii.'

Daisuke whirled around at the menacing growl behind him and was met with a fairly pissed Takeshi. His eyes were narrowed and his bottom lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout. The note Daisuke had written was crumpled in one hand and the other resting on his hip in an attempted intimidating pose. He also had his camera hung around his neck.

'Just run off at some ungodly hour why don't you? Do you honestly think I was about to let you handle this on your own? I know you Daisuke and I know for a fact that your socks are halfway down your shoes because you're trembling so much.'

'Heh, heh, but I really don't want to burden you Saehara. I can handle this on my own.'

'And deny me the opportunity to meet Pox girl and co? Not a chance!'

Daisuke gave a sad smile, there was no way he was going to change his mind.

'Alright, but Takeshi-kun, you can't take pictures of them or write about them ok?'

'No go, I might not be able to publish it right away, but I am still getting this story,' he replied stubbornly.

Daisuke sighed dejectedly, 'Don't blame me if she kills you then.'

'Who? Pox girl?'

'Don't call her that either or we'll both be dead.'

Daisuke slipped the key into the lock and opened the door.

'Tadaime.'

No reply.

'Maybe no one's awake yet.'

'I shouldn't be either,' Takeshi yawned.

'You didn't have to follow me,' Daisuke replied sourly, 'Let's go to the kitchen and get something to eat.'

'I'll second that.'

Daisuke inconspicuously hit the switch to turn the traps off and then set out to find something edible.

'We're running low on everything. That means mom is going to make me go grocery shopping today.' He groaned.

Takeshi wasn't listening. He was staring at the group of teenagers asleep on the sofas and extra futons they had passed to get to the kitchen.

'Hey Daisuke, is that them?' he whispered.

Daisuke looked to where he was pointing.

'Yeah that's them. There's no need to whisper though. They're probably already awake.'

'And starving,' perked Angel, suddenly sitting up and untangling herself from her blanket. She didn't understand what Daisuke was saying verbally but she could understand his thoughts.

'Hai, hai. There isn't very much at the moment so would a sandwich do for now?' He asked in English.

'Yeah.'

Slowly the rest of the group emerged from their substitute beds, all except Nudge, who was the hardest to awake.

'Who's your friend Daisuki?' Angel asked.

Before he could answer, Takeshi broke out into hysterical laughter and all Daisuke could do was blush in embarrassment.

'Kawaii. She's so kawaii,' he said through a fit of giggles.

'What's so funny? What's so funny? Did I miss something here?' asked Gassy.

'Don't worry, you wouldn't understand it,' replied Daisuke, still blushing.

Takeshi managed to get his breath back and made an introduction in the only English he knew.

'I am Saehara Takeshi nice to meet you,' he said in one breath.

They sat back in the lounge area and Takeshi was very excited. He wanted to ask so many questions, but the problem was that they couldn't understand him and vice versa. He settled, for now, to just point and guess which one was which.

'The cute little girl must be Angel, ne?'

Angel smiled at him.

'The one sleeping is…Pudge?' he asked, trying to recall the name.

'Nudge,' Daisuke corrected.

'Right, Nudge, and him…Garsy?' he said pointing at Iggy unsurely.

Gassy crossed his arms, 'Hmph, Gassy!'

Takeshi redirected his finger to him, 'Gazy?'

'Gassy!'

'Gazzy.'

'Gassy!!!'

Takeshi waved him off, giving up.

'So he's Igge.'

'Is he talking about me or to me?' remarked Iggy.

'Who knows,' Max replied.

'So that last hot chick has to be Pox Girl, Malaria.'

'What!' exclaimed Max.

'Takeshi! I made that up!' Daisuke hissed.

'Really? What's her real name then?'

'Malaria,' Gassy giggled.

'Pox Girl,' Iggy sniggered.

'Bite me,' Max growled threateningly.

Daisuke started bowing and apologizing for the both of them but the scowl never left Max's face.

Daisuke explained to the flock why he told Takeshi about them and reassured them that he could be trusted.

'Tell him that if I discover he has blabbed on us, I'll hunt him down and beat him to a pulp and that's after I've ripped his limbs off.'

Daisuke none too enthusiastically passed on the message and Saehara looked at her blankly.

'I like her.'

Daisuke sweat dropped.

Takeshi then excitedly began speaking to Daisuke and he translated.

'Takeshi-kun asks if he can interview you all for his paper, but he also says that he won't publish it until the danger blows over.'

The flock looked to Max expectantly, who was still scowling.

'_What do you make of him Angel?'_

'_He's weird but he's a nice guy. He's loyal to Daisuke so I think we can trust him.'_

After a long pause Max finally answered.

'Alright.'

Takeshi didn't fully understand, but he assumed by her tone that it was a positive response. He jumped on the sofa and whooped in joy.

'Saehara! Keep it down!' Daisuke warned him.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Takeshi produced a pen and paper and tucked the pen behind his ear whilst he made himself comfortable.

'So, who's first?'

* * *

Dark jerked awake at what he thought sounded like a yell and strained his ears to listen. The birds outside screeched and whistled their high pitched tunes and Dark quickly found them irritating. He observed the room with his eyes; the thin curtain allowed warm light to filter through and Dark could tell it was early morning. He yawned and looked down at the digital clock which read 7:15 in bright green numbers. Daisuke is probably still asleep Dark thought, remembering the little redheads sleeping habits. An image of Daisuke peacefully asleep in a bed whose sheets have long ago been tossed to the floor and him snuggling deeply into his pillow for warmth with his hair tussled and unkempt, emerged in Dark's mind.

Dark felt heat rise to his face and scolded himself, embarrassed by the daydream. That had been happening way too often recently. He mentally blocked the image. With a mind reading six year old around, he will have to be careful of what he's thinking.

Dark jumped off Daisuke's bed and picked some clothes from his and Daisuke's wardrobe…their wardrobe. The thought suddenly had Dark's heart beat pumping twice as fast and he quickly went into the bathroom, intent on a very cool shower.

Downstairs Iggy cocked his head to the side, listening. He quickly served the omelet he was cooking and turned off the gas. He then walked over to the sound of Daisuke's voice, who was translating his friend's questions. Iggy bent down and Daisuke jumped as he whispered in his ear.

'_He's_ up.'

It took 5 seconds for Daisuke to fully understand the message and then his eyes widened in panic.

'I'll deal with it.' Iggy said, predicting Daisuke's reaction.

Confused, he watched as Iggy walked out the room and disappeared around the door.

'Yoo-hoo Daisuke!' Takeshi said waving a hand in front of his face.

'Eh? Oh gomen. What did you say?'

'Don't space out me man, I'm relying on you. I said 'How did you escape the School?''

That's right, if Daisuke suddenly disappeared to deal with Dark, then Takeshi wouldn't have a translator and he would sooner or later go looking for him. Daisuke focused on his task and hoped Iggy could keep Dark occupied for a while. Sometimes Dark could be as temperamental as Takeshi.

Iggy settled on the sofa in Daisuke's room and patently waited for Dark to come out of the bathroom. Being a phantom thief, Iggy would have thought Dark to be more nocturnal and sleep during the day. Oh well.

Shortly, Iggy heard the door open and the sound of a rustling towel reached his ears. Dark must be drying his hair. The rustling stopped and Iggy heard Dark suddenly gasp in shock.

'What are you doing in here? I could have come out totally naked for all you know.'

'And that would matter to me because?' Iggy left hanging in a bored tone.

'Oh yeah.'

'Yeah.'

The rustling continued again.

'So what are you doing up here.'

'Keeping you company. I can't let you go downstairs.' Iggy said truthfully

'Why?'

'Because Daisuke's friend has come over.'

'Saehara?'

'That's him.'

'But didn't Daisuke go to his-?'

'Daisuke's here too.'

'Then why didn't he come up to tell me?'

'Is my presence that unbearable?' Iggy said jokingly.

Iggy heard Dark make an annoyed sigh. 'It's just that I thought that he and I had sorted that out.'

'He's not avoiding you by any means. He's occupied at the moment.'

'Really? What's he up to?'

'Playing journalism with his friend.'

Iggy heard the towel drop to the floor but that was all. If Dark was walking around then he was using his famous stealth to make his footsteps soundless. Iggy also predicted that Dark would try to escape since he wasn't free to wander around the house, but Iggy had a back up plan.

Dark was beyond annoyed. On any day of the week Daisuke had to bring a friend over, why did it have to be a weekend? Who knows how long Saehara's going to stay and until he leaves, Dark was going to be stuck in this room like a prison. He even had his own jailer…a blind jailer.

Darks first instinct was to escape, he has never liked being kept somewhere against his will and this was no exception.

Being as quiet as possible, Dark walked softly past Iggy to reach the door, but to his surprise he never made it. He was grabbed from behind and flung into the now empty sofa.

'What the-?' Dark spluttered.

'I'm blind, not stupid,' stated Iggy.

Fairly sure that he had Darks attention, Iggy lifted his left hand. At first Dark didn't see any thing but then he noticed a thin, almost invisible piece of string wrapped around Iggy's little finger. Dark followed the cobweb-like piece of thread and saw the other end was inconspicuously pinned to the opposite side of the doorway. It was one of the simplest of traps and he fell for it.

'If you plan to go out at all, go through the flipping window. Didn't it cross your mind that Sahara or what's-his-name would see you walk past the living room?'

'Of course I did! But you forget. I'm the phantom thief! I could get through any situation unseen if I had to. I just wanted to see how Daisuke was.'

'He's fine,' said Iggy exasperatedly.

Dark seriously had a Daisuke-obsession complex, Iggy thought.

'And I bet he'll feel even better knowing that he doesn't have to worry about you,' Iggy continued.

'He'll probably worry that someone outside the house will recognise me,' said Dark with a scrutinising glare.

'That is true,' Iggy agreed, 'but at least you can get away from them. The guy downstairs seems the type to hunt you down 'til the death.'

'Good observation,' commented Dark.

Dark got up from the sofa and he saw Iggy cock his head, listening.

'Alright I'll go through the window…but make sure Saehara is gone by at least three o'clock. There's only so much I like to do by my self.'

And with that, Dark opened the window and took off.

There was not that many people wandering about at this time and Dark used this opportunity to fly to an unnoticeable height. Remembering the tricks that Max had been teaching him, he rode the morning air currents to raise himself into the air with little effort. Soon the few people he could see were no more than tiny specks and Dark felt absolutely exhilarated as he freely flew in the sunlight.

Yes he has flown during the daytime before, but he was always preoccupied to fully appreciate the airborne world around him. There were scattered clouds amongst the extensive blue sky and Dark watched them roll and spread as the wind molded them into interesting shapes. The wind was cold but the suns rays felt warm against his skin and wings.

After what seemed like a peaceful eternity floating in the heavens, Dark felt fatigue developing in his shoulders for keeping his wings steady for so long. Remorsefully, Dark angled his wings downwards and began to descend. He wasn't sure for how long he'd been in his little world, but noticeably long enough that a lot more people were up and about. It was limiting his landing options.

Dark retreated to his favorite brooding spot on the cliff. He could frequently guarantee that the place will be empty. After landing, he stretched his wings and shoulders and took slow deep breaths to regain his used oxygen. With returned to his animal form and collapsed in satisfied exhaustion on Dark's shoulder.

'You enjoyed that as much as I did eh.'

'Kyuu,' With agreed.

Dark took a moment to enjoy the scenery and then retrieved the scrunched up cap that he had stuffed into his pocket before taking off. He straightened the creases as best he could and placed it on top of his violet locks.

'Let's go see if they're selling strawberries in town,' Dark decided.

At the mention of 'strawberries,' With's ears perked up and was giving Dark the cutest pleading expression it could muster. Dark laughed at its enthusiasm.

Town was bustling with people and the streets were filled with stalls. The hustle and bustle only made it easier to swipe a few strawberries unnoticed. Dark found an empty park bench to rest and finally feed an impatient With. It seemed strange to Dark that for just today, he could be just like any normal average person living their life. What do normal people do when they have too much time on their hands? Dark only knew from what his past hosts had shown him, but he had never really experienced it himself. He was never given enough time to _have_ too much time, but now that he had his own body…he was spending a lot of his free time thinking about what he wanted to do. Also, to Dark's annoyance, Daisuke always seemed to force his way into his thoughts…not always completely innocent either, Dark thought with a blush.

'Excuse me, are you alright?'

Dark jerked his head up in surprise and embarrassment. He then froze in shock, recognising the girl before him.

'D-Dark?'

* * *

**Yay! Cliffy! Who do you think it is?**

**Max:** I don't know. Dark's mother?

**Me: **...

**Angel:** Please excuse Max, she's still a little peeved about the Pox Girl thing.

**Max:** (Gives death glare to Iggy and Gassy)

**Iggy and Gassy:** Don't blame us! We weren't the ones who came up with it.

**Max:** (Glares at Daisuke)

**Daisuke:** I only did what the writter told me to do!

**Max:** (Glares at me)

**Me:** Don't give that look or you'll never see Fang again. I'll keep him for myself.

**Max:** Over my dead body!

**Me:** I can arrange that!

**Fang:** Don't I get a say on who I belong to?

**Me and Max:** NO!

**Saehara:** (sigh) I wish girls would fight over me like that. Review plz.

* * *


	21. Chapter 21

**YES!!! Two exams over, just five more to go. I'm back with a vengeance! I have no writers block! Maybe I should take long breaks from writing more often, but I think I would have an angry mob at my door and hate mail from Mayu-chan. 0_o (eep). I have worked seriously hard on this chapter so I want lots of reviews. I've written this one slightly differently than previous chappies, it's long, has flash backs and jumps about a bit so I hope no one gets confused. And YAY! Brace yourselves Dark/Daisuke fans! We are getting down to business! (ahem, cough, blush) but remember this is T rating so don't get too excited. R&R.**

* * *

'Risa?'

Both Risa and Dark stared at each other shocked. Risa recovered first and her face split into a huge smile as she literally leapt upon Dark to hug the life out of him.

'It is you! It's been so long since we last seen each other!'

'Keep it down Risa,' Dark hissed.

Although the area was practically disserted, Dark didn't want to make a scene.

'Did you see me in the newspaper? You may not have recognized me but you're so cool, you probably figured it out right away. Right?'

'Err…sure,' Dark hadn't a clue what she was talking about.

'That's why you're here now! You wanted to find me to congratulate me! You really didn't have to, you're so sweet!'

Dark remained silent and let the girl voice her crazy self-centered scenario, he wasn't really listening. One thought that managed to process through her constant chattering, was how the heck does Daisuke have feelings for this…this…brat? One sight of him on T.V. and she's all over Dark like a rash, and she even thinks that he was serious about her after one measly little date and a kiss. Dark grimaced at the memory; he couldn't even begin to imagine kissing her again.

'So, shall we go?'

'Hmm…what?'

'On our date.'

Dark mentally gagged. When did they get on the subject of a date? Hell no.

'Sorry, I'll pass.'

Dark heaved himself off the bench and looked down at her. Shock and disappointment was written all over her face.

'To be honest Risa, for the last five minutes I haven't a clue what you'd been talking about and this meeting was pure coincidence, I wasn't expecting you or looking for you. We are…'

Dark stopped. Risa's eyes had become watery and her expression was so pained and saddened, Dark couldn't bring himself to say the last words 'not an item.' Despite himself not liking the girl, he hated seeing or making women cry. He sighed aspirated and cursed his weakness.

'We are going on a date.'

Risa lit up immediately.

* * *

Satoshi wandered around the rotten house in a daze. Krad's _fun_ had left him exhausted, aching and somewhat disoriented. It was like walking through a nightmare and waking up to find the injuries from your dream littered all over your body. Slightly healed shallow cuts lacerated his sides and back, the blooded thin scabs were drawn across a colourful array of large, painful bruises. Satoshi's face, however, was unharmed and contrasted with the darkened skin on his collarbone.

'_Your face is the only appealing thing about you.' _

Krad's words echoed in Satoshi's mind, haunting and taunting him.

Every move that Satoshi made was agony and he had to support his weight against a neighboring wall to prevent his legs from collapsing. Satoshi thanked every God that he could think of that he was on the first floor. He didn't think his body could survive going down the stairs.

He forced his body into the dinning area and across to the other side where a broken, rotten wooden door led to the kitchen. Or at least he hoped led to the kitchen. Food and something to drink were high on his 'things to do before I collapse' list and he did not want to waste any more energy trying to look for it.

He raised a hand and used his body weight and the little forward momentum he had to push the stiff, crumbling door open.

'It looks like sleeping beauty is awake.'

Satoshi's head jerked up at the familiar cruel voice and immediately regretted the movement. If his back had a pair of lungs and a voice box, it would be screaming.

Krad was casually sitting on the kitchen counter near the sink with his legs and arms crossed. His flawless white clothing showed no sign of the violence he executed the night before.

'Are you hungry Toshi-kun?' Krad asked mockingly, 'You better hurry then, Kiba has almost cleaned this place out.'

As if called at a silent summoning, Fang came through a dark doorway that led to the basement stairs, carrying a loaf of bread in his arms.

'This is the last one,' he said to Krad.

'Then you'll have to ask Master Hiwatari nicely to buy some more,' Krad replied almost kindly.

Fang simply nodded and walked past Satoshi to the dinning room.

'Kiba, save some bread for Toshi-kun here,' Krad smirked.

Fang turned around at Krad's calling and then shifted his gaze to Satoshi. He looked at him as though sizing him up and seeing the weakened state he was in, tore off a generous amount of bread. Fang kept eye contact with Satoshi as he placed almost half the loaf into his hands. He was reading him, Satoshi realised.

Fang took a bite out of the bread and turned around to go into the dinning room.

Satoshi stood there, gawping at him.

'He doesn't even know who I am,' Satoshi said more to himself.

Satoshi then turned on Krad.

'What did you do to him?' he demanded.

'Nothing.'

'Liar.'

'It's true,' Krad said calmly, 'isn't it natural to get memory loss when your brain's been oxygen deprived for so long.'

'Not like this,' Satoshi argued uselessly.

'Go get reacquainted then, who knows, his memory might come back,' Krad waved him off, smirking.

Satoshi was right though. Krad was lying through his teeth.

Flashback:

'_YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!'_

'_Calm down Krad, you've damaged one house already,' Kei said gruffly._

_Shortly after Krad had left a batted, bruised and unconscious Satoshi in his new found torture room, Kei had returned from his business with his secret force team._

'_And partially repaired it! My magic is not a tool that you can use at you leisure. Fixing things is more draining that destroying and I've barely recovered my magic from healing the FREAK! And now you want me to do this?'_

'_Yes.'_

'_Forget it.'_

_Kei frowned and Krad saw that he was about to get either a lecture or a threat. He wasn't in the mood for either._

'_Remember this Hiwatari, the only reason I'm still around is because through you I can get to Dark Mousy. I've been obedient so far because doing so has improved my chances to kill him. Do NOT mistake me for your PET!' he fumed._

_Kei listened quietly and calmly, but he was not intimidated by Krad's claim._

'_Then if I explain to you, how it will improve your chance 'to kill him,' as you put it, will you do it then?'_

End Flashback:

Krad watched the two teenagers sit quietly whilst eating. Satoshi had tried to make conversation but Fang was not very talkative. He either answered Satoshi with a shake of the head, a nod or nothing at all and it somewhat annoyed Krad at how submissive he'd become.

When Krad had first found Fang trying to get out the door, Krad had a sudden spark of malicious hope that he still had some fight in him. He was disappointed, however, when only fear and a little lingering instinct was left in his eyes.

No fun at all.

As the day drew on, even that disappeared. The old Fang that fought for his freedom and friends gradually faded away and was replaced with Kiba, who was little more than a shell.

Krad growled in frustration. Surely there could have been a better way to get at Dark without wiping the memory clean of his newest torture toy. He heals so fast that he's ready for another round the next day and he looks similar to Dark so it's easy to imagine that it's him he's torturing instead. But what's the point if he doesn't react?

Krad stared at the floor through his golden bangs. This just wasn't fun anymore.

* * *

By the time Saehara had finished interviewing everyone, had lunch and explained the situation to Emiko and Daichii, it was already 6 o'clock. Emiko asked if he would like to stay for dinner, but he declined, explaining that someone needed to go home to feed his dad.

Daisuke watched his friend leave from the doorway and noticed the sky had turned a light pink as evening settled in. Daisuke closed the door and as he entered the living area, he had a strong feeling that he was forgetting something.

'That friend of yours sure had a lot of questions,' complained Max.

'What's your favorite colour? What's your favourate food? Who's your idol? It felt like we were celebrities,' commented Nudge.

'I don't think celebrity interviews are even half that long,' Max groaned, stretching her arms above her head until they clicked. 'If Dark was here maybe he would have paid more attention to him instead of us.'

'Speaking of Dark, maybe I should go look for him,' said Daisuke, suddenly remembering.

Iggy patted Daisuke on the shoulder and made him jump.

'He'll show up soon enough.'

'Yeah, but still…'

Max instantly saw the worry starting to build and she sighed.

'Do you want us to go with you?' she asked.

Daisuke was surprised by her question and didn't answer at first.

'Ie, it's fine. I don't want you to put yourselves in danger because of me. Just tell mom to wait for us before serving up.'

'You sure?'

Daisuke gave a brief nod, and then went to get his coat.

* * *

Dark was somewhat relieved when the dimming light signaled the time to leave. Risa had dragged him off to a fair and had been waltzed around, forced to win a prize for her and he had to pay for the Ferris wheel ride for _both_ of them. Dark now wished he hadn't pick pocketed someone with a fat wallet, because even he was starting to feel guilty about the amount he had to spend. Mostly on the little girl that was chewing away on a toffee apple and annoyingly clinging to his arm as if she owned it. A small frown formed on her face.

'Awww, everywhere is closing. I would have loved to have stayed a bit longer.'

And spend all the money that isn't even mine, Dark added mentally.

'We should get going then,' Dark said, trying to hide his eagerness to leave.

They walked amongst the crowd and Risa took her time to make the moment last longer, much to Dark's dismay. Dark tried to speed the pace up a bit once they were free of people and guided her to through the town to come to a stop by the fountain. Dark hadn't planned on stopping. The fountain was a very popular dating spot and it was also the quickest route to Risa's home. Risa obviously thought he brought her here purposefully and unwound herself from his arm to stand next to the mid thigh high wall. She stared at the view beyond it, which Dark would admit was very beautiful, if only there wasn't an annoying little girl standing in front of it.

The sky was pale gold and turned pink and orange near the setting sun. The large red orb just touched the edge of the sea line and made the sea appear as though it had its own bloody sun just under the surface. The sand of the shore and cliff face were stained pink with sharp black shadows cutting into the surface. The image was threatening as well as beautiful.

Risa looked upon the view with a dreamy expression. The cold wind gently breezed through her hair like a Hollywood romance shot. Her cheeks were pink from the cold but she ignored it. Her thoughts contained nothing but thoughts of Dark and what a romantic situation they were in. Soon he would come and wrap his arm around her shoulders and tell her how beautiful she was and then he would turn her face towards him and smile at her with that gorgeous smile of his and they would lean towards each other, eyes closing and…

'Have you finished daydreaming?'

Risa jumped as she heard Dark standing beside her and looking down at her with serious eyes. She blushed, suddenly feeling self conscious and pretended to look at the scenery whilst she watched Dark out of the corner of her eye. She waited for him to make his move.

He stood beside her with his arm almost in contact with her shoulder. Risa's heart raced as she waited. Was Dark too shy? Should she make the first move? No, it's the men's job to make the first move, not the other way round. She continued to wait, peeking at Dark as he stared with serious yet unfocused eyes at the view. He must be thinking of what to say! Risa thought excitedly.

Finally he spoke.

'Risa…'

* * *

Daisuke had walked with a quick pace as he searched the streets and alleys for Dark. He had searched the parks, the town centre and had just finished sweeping through the area where a fair had closed for the day. Where else could he be? Daisuke thought frantically.

Earlier he had snuck into the police station just to check if he was caught. There was a teenage shoplifter and a passed out 34 year old drunk but no Dark. Daisuke was torn between relief and anxiety.

Now after wandering the streets blindly, he was just letting instinct lead his feet from location to location. His gut was tying itself in knots and his bottom lip was becoming swollen because he was biting it so much. Each place he tried seemed to be Dark free.

As the sky over head became a deep blue, Daisuke knew he should start heading back. His feet were on autopilot and took him across the familiar cobbled roads and pavements that have been there for centuries. Daisuke blinked and squinted when he became clear from the shadows of the buildings and out onto the outer road, which had a clear view of the sea.

Daisuke continued walking towards home and let his thoughts wander. Maybe Dark has returned home already and Daisuke was just worrying too much. That thought eased his squirming stomach and he allowed a brief moment of calm. He was probably worrying over nothing. Dark is perfectly capable of looking after himself and was probably somewhere having fun or coming home.

Daisuke looked up from his trainers to see just how far he had come and immediately became distracted. In the not too far distance Daisuke could see the stark silhouette of the fountain and the blurring of shadow and light from the water billowing out the top. But that wasn't what caught his attention.

The floor streamed behind him as he ran. The fountain enlarged as he became closer and hid the figure that Daisuke was sure he saw standing there. He was sure he saw a flash of violet when the figure turned his head and the way he stood was so Dark-like, it had to be him.

Daisuke couldn't help but grin.

'Dark!'

Daisuke screeched to a halt. His smile was no longer present. Instead, shock, anger, betrayal and overwhelming jealousy consumed him.

Dark wasn't alone. His body hid the small frame of Risa, who he was holding loosely at arms length with his hands on her shoulders. His head was bend downwards, as though he was about to kiss her.

Daisuke's head was reeling, his heart constricted painfully and he stood there in shock, unmoving and unsure what to do.

'Niwa-kun?'

Risa's eyes had widened in surprise at Daisuke's appearance and she looked worriedly between him and Dark.

Dark was equally surprised, but was soon replaced with horror at the torn look on Daisuke's face. Daisuke was starring at him and then at Risa with large watery eyes. His breathing was heavy from running and was becoming ragged from fighting tears. Dark could only imagine what kind of turmoil he was in.

Before Dark could call out to him, Daisuke had turned tail and ran. His form quickly disappeared from sight.

'Wha-what was that about?' Risa asked confusedly.

Dark snapped.

'You are a heartless wench,' he said, pushing her away harshly.

Risa stumbled and fell onto her backside, letting a cry of pain escape. She looked up to Dark with tears in her eyes.

'Why?'

Dark sneered disgustedly.

'Daisuke's face should have been explanatory enough. He's been in love with you since he laid eyes on you and you ask, 'what was that about?'' Dark growled.

'But why is it that you reject me! I love you! Not Niwa-kun. You're handsome, cool, independent and romantic! Niwa-kun could never reach those standards.'

Risa felt a stinging pain across her cheek and she couldn't believe it. Dark had just slapped her. She looked at him in shock and then froze. Dark's eyes, that were normally warm and gentle, were looking down at her with cold fury.

'You really are heartless.'

Dark turned and strode purposely away from her.

'Dark,' she whimpered pitifully.

'Don't come looking for me again,' Dark said coldly, 'I have no interest in self-centered, selfish girls.'

He left. He couldn't stand to look at her anymore. So what if he hit her? She needed some sense knocked into her and she deserved it, it was only his pride against hitting girls that almost stopped him from doing it. But her words, those cruel words that were said about his Daisuke…if she were a man he would have given her a black eye or two.

Dark looked at the sky and summoned With. Flying high enough to get a clear bird's eye view, Dark searched the ground for a streak of red and found him, still running and heading towards his house.

Oh no you don't, thought Dark. If Daisuke gets in the house now, Dark may not get a chance to talk privately for who knows how long. Dark swooped in upon Daisuke silently and scooped him up in his arms.

'WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!' Daisuke yelled.

'Stop struggling or I'll drop you!'

'Dark! You put me down this minute!'

'No.'

'I mean it Dark!'

'So do I.'

Dark angled eastwards to the cliffs and glided over to one of the wind turbines and landed smoothly onto it. Dark smirked at how Daisuke's eyes shifted. There was no escape from up here.

Once Daisuke's feet were on solid ground he fought his way out of Darks arms and walked as far away as he could from him. Dark didn't stop him or try to follow him. He knew Daisuke was beyond angry.

Nothing was said for a while and Dark seated himself to prepare for a long wait. He would be patient; he owed Daisuke some time…and an explanation. Would he actually believe him though?

Flash back:

'_Risa…'_

'_Yes?' she said quickly, she was obviously nervous._

'_We have to stop this Risa.'_

_She turned to him confused._

'_Stop what?'_

'_This delusion of us.' Risa opened her mouth to deny his suggestion but he stopped her by raising his hand, 'This love is one sided, I'm sorry but I do not feel the same for you.'_

'_You're breaking up with me?'_

_Dark held her shoulders and looked her in the eye to make his message clear._

'_We were never together to begin with.'_

End Flashback:

Dark just hoped Daisuke would understand.

A few minutes passed and Dark noticed Daisuke's shoulders had stopped shaking but he still didn't turn around to face him. Ten minutes passed and Dark was becoming restless. He played with the edge of his clothes and every now and again he glanced in Daisuke's direction, who was now pacing to keep warm. He finally broke the silence.

'Dark, take me home. I'm cold.'

Dark frowned disapprovingly at Daisuke's back and answered.

'Will you listen to me first?'

Daisuke sighed and turned around, giving Dark a famous I'm-listening-so-get-on-with-it glare. Even though his face was cast in shadow, his eyes had a light of their own which Dark couldn't draw away from. It didn't help that the red sun in the background caused Daisuke's form to glow and his flaming red hair to blaze like amber. It was hypnotic.

Dark finally broke out of his trance when Daisuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Dark had been staring for too long. He told Daisuke what had happened and emphasised the fact that Risa forced him on a date and that he didn't go out of choice. Daisuke listened silently and impassively. Dark began to worry over Daisuke's lack of reaction and thought that he didn't believe him.

'I'm really sorry that I hurt you. I know how long you've loved her and I had selfishly taken advantage of her attraction to me. I not only toyed with your feelings but hers as well. But that will never happen again,' Dark added, 'I told her not to pursue me anymore…and that I'm not interested in her.'

Daisuke's expression became pained and he stared at the white turbine floor.

'Is that really the truth, Dark? You could actually be with her now, if you wanted.' Daisuke said quietly.

'Daisuke-'

'I understand,' he interrupted, 'She's pretty, funny and a wonderful girl. What could someone as special as her want with a loser like me? She deserves better. I don't want to get in the way of her happiness.'

'That's not true Daisuke-' Dark argued, but Daisuke cut him off yet again.

'And then there's you Dark,' Daisuke whispered, 'We are no longer connected, so I have no right to hold you back anymore. Risa…she looks so much like Rika so I can see what you see in her-'

'Don't compare Rika to her!' Dark said angrily.

Daisuke jerked his head up at Dark's outburst and noticed that he had jumped to his feet in anger and was shaking with uncontained fury.

'Rika was never as self centered as _her_! She was caring, unselfish and would have never hurt someone like _she_ has done countless times to you! And if I really wanted to be with _her_, then I wouldn't have chased after you! You are more important to me than anyone on this Earth Daisuke! You are not a loser, you're my best friend, my brother, my…' Dark took a deep breath to collect himself and said more calmly, 'you're my other half. It doesn't matter if we're in different bodies, I would feel incomplete without you around.'

Daisuke was speechless. A lump had risen to his throat and he was finding it hard to breathe. His heart was pounding uncontrollably against his ribcage and his mind was a jumble of confused thoughts.

What does he mean by all that? What is he trying to tell him? Why was his heart racing so much? Why did those words have such an affect on him? Why did Dark go so far as to perch him on a wind turbine just to talk to him? Why was Dark looking at him now with such vulnerable, desperate eyes?

'Do you understand? Daisuke?'

'Why did you chase after me?' Daisuke breathed.

His voice had all but given up on him. He was scared. Scratch that, he was terrified. He was unsure where this was leading to and the feelings that raged within him were tearing him apart. He didn't know what to do.

He became more panicked when Dark began walking towards him but he had already moved away as far as physically possible and there was no where he could run to without falling to a painful death. Dark really gave him no escape routes.

Dark approached cautiously. He could see that Daisuke was on the verge of panicking and didn't want to scare him into doing something stupid, like jumping off a 50 metre tall wind turbine. As he got closer, he took in Daisuke's form. He observed the creaminess of his skin and how it blended beautifully into a rosy hue on his cheeks. Whether it was from cold, anger or embarrassment, Dark wasn't sure but he liked to think it was him that caused Daisuke's blood to colour his cheeks. Daisuke's ruby eyes were wide and fearful but held a light that growled defiance. That's what Dark loved best about his eyes; they were expressive, lively and shone like a beacon to his soul. He never wanted that light to fade.

When Dark was no more than a few feet away, he set his sights on Daisuke's lips and watched transfixed as a round pink tongue slowly slid across them and made them glisten with moisture. They were plump and looked soft and smooth. Dark wondered how they would feel under his fingertips, or even better, against his own lips. Dark pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. Now wasn't the time for that.

Dark stopped inches from Daisuke and his height forced Daisuke to crane his head back to look him in the eye. His small figure made him appear helpless and fragile beneath Dark's towering form. Daisuke was practically glowing with innocence. Any words that Dark had planned to say suddenly vanished from his mind.

He dipped down and planted his lips on Daisuke's in a soft kiss.

Daisuke's eyes widened at Dark's actions. Dark had opened his mouth as though he was going to say something and then stopped. Next thing he knew, Dark had wrapped an arm around him, pulled him flush up against his warm chest and was creating the most passionate sensations upon his mouth. Daisuke thought he was going to lose his sanity, how could such a small thing feel so good?

Instinctively, Daisuke had placed his hands on Dark's chest as a barrier, but now they were desperately gripping into Dark's clothes.

Dark moved away slightly and Daisuke practically swallowed the air. Dark was still centimeters from Daisuke's face and was watching him with half lidded, clouded purple orbs. He was flustered and blushing like a beetroot but made no intention to move away. In fact he became bold once again and brought his hand up to caress Daisuke's cheek, running his thumb over his pink, swollen lips.

Daisuke had his eyes closed and just let Dark's touch wash over him. Dark was warm and gentle and Daisuke had never felt so secure just being embraced in his arms. Daisuke laid his head on Dark's chest and cried.

He knew something was up. He knew something was developing within him for a long time now, but he was too afraid to confront it. It became obviously clear, when he saw Risa with Dark a few moments ago.

He knew all along.

He was in love with Dark Mousy.

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**HA!!! IN YOUR FACE RISA!!! YOU HAD IT COMING!!!**

**I'd just like to point out that Krad's torture is NOT sexual abuse, although I may have unintentionally made it sound that way.**

**Review plz.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Woooo. I had writers block for this chapter at first...and then over the past three days it just flowed. Again I'm sorry for the wait and I'm going to apologise in advance because I have exams over the coming weeks and need the time to revise...0_o...(why oh why did I take up german! Why didn't I take something a bit easier?) Anyhoo here's chapter 22. I'm starting to wonder if this story will ever end, I originally thought I would finish it by chapter 20 and I've gone way past that and I'm no where near finished. sigh. I can't believe I've written this much in the first place, this story is currently 84,838 words and 221 A4 pages...I was only writing this for fun. Don't worry I have no intention of stopping, the only question I have is do I possess the ability to stop? I'll stop ranting now. Review.**

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We circled each other like hawks and searched each other for weaknesses in our defense.

I stared at him.

He stared at me.

But the worst part of it was he intended to kill me.

I know, I know, you lot out there are probably in some state of confusion and I don't blame you, but I really don't have time to explain.

He swung a fist at my head and I easily blocked it. Next he tried to jab his knee into my side and I quickly stepped to the side to avoid it. I aimed a side kick to his head, but he blocked it with his arm, grabbed my ankle and then swept my other foot from under me. I was quickly pinned to the ground and then he began to strangle me.

His grip tightened as I fought for air and I arched my back, trying to throw him off. He held on tight and slammed my head to the floor so hard that I was seeing stars.

Out of the corner of my blurring vision I could see the flock. They watched this scene with frightened eyes.

My strength was leaving and my lungs burned for air.

So this was it…this time, I was really going to die.

Hours earlier…

It was torturous.

I watched through the glass of the oven at the tray of golden chocolate chip cookies. The aroma that leaked from it was heavenly. The sweet floury toasty-ness of the dough and creamy melted chocolate took my senses to another world.

But they still needed five more minutes.

'They're not going to cook any faster because you're glaring at them,' commented Iggy.

My eyes never left the cookies.

'I'm not glaring, I'm observing. That cookie at the back looks brown enough; it might burn if we don't take it out now.'

'It's your imagination.'

Some people just can't appreciate the awesomeness of a perfectly baked cookie. Not me, I take it very, very seriously.

'They're done,' I said.

I grabbed some oven mittens and quickly took the tray out the oven. I left them on the side on a cooling tray and began the countdown of when the cookies would be at an edible temperature. In my opinion, they were at the right temperature right now, but as good as they are straight out the oven, I've learnt from personal experience that doing so will give you mouth ulcers. So don't do this at home.

I picked up one of the cookies and almost burnt my fingers. I passed it between my hands until I could hold it for longer than three seconds and then took a large, mouth watering bite. It just melted in my mouth.

'Yo, don't hog them all,' said Iggy over my shoulder.

His hand sneaked around me and hovered over the tray. I slapped his hand away before he could find one.

'Yow! What was that for?'

'For being an arrogant pig, that's what. If you want one, you're going to have to ask _nicely_.'

Iggy rolled his eyes and sighed.

'Sorry. May I please have a cookie?' he said unapologetically.

'You're going to have to do better than that,' I taunted, waving a cookie under his nose.

I saw his jaw stiffen in annoyance and I smirked.

'Please may I have a cookie, oh all powerful wonderful slave driving leader.'

'Not bad,' I said through gritted teeth, 'would you like to try again once more?'

Iggy breathed in and opened his mouth to speak.

'No.'

He turned around and walked away.

'Your loss,' I said to his back.

Indeed, it was his loss. These cookies were delicious.

A little later all the cookies were gone and no, I did not eat them all. I shared them between my flock and the Niwa's and I was even nice enough to give one to Iggy. We all gathered in the living room to discuss our next move. We needed a new plan.

Not an entirely new plan though. I'm still sticking with the kicking the crap out of Krad part and rescuing Fang. The current problem now was that we had absolutely no idea where he was and how to find him.

'No way,' I said.

'Max, this really is the best option we can think of-.'

'Then think up some more, cuz that is sooooo not going to happen.'

Was it me or was everyone around me going insane? Before we began discussing, we called my Mum and cough-Jeb-cough, who had decided to move to a hotel for a while so that they weren't in the way and to continue eavesdropping on Itex. Mum was also feeling guilty from taking advantage of Emiko's hospitality and relieved herself from being a burden. We had them on loudspeaker and for the last 5 minutes they have been sprouting the most awesome gibberish I've ever heard.

'Going to the police is not, I repeat NOT, negotiable.'

'Max,' came Jeb's voice.

'I'm not listening-.'

'We are plucking at tight strings here. There are no other options left. We MUST find Fang soon or you'll have to leave without him.'

'I told you already, I am not leaving without him.' I said defiantly.

'You may not have a choice, the clock is ticking and the man-made apocalypse is just around the corner. Our man on the inside has informed us that the countdown will start sometime in the next week! You do not have time to hang around here. You must find Fang in the next few days or else…'

'_Everyone will die Max. Could you live with yourself if you let that happen?'_

And cue the voice. Long time no hear and still has useless things to say. So what if they'll be a few less people in the world? Big deal, it'll be better because then there'll be less scientists to experiment on us! And less pollution! You know it's not only cow's butt gas that causes Global Warming!?

'_And what of the children Max? Children the same age as you and the flock will never live their lives to the fullest because the adults decided their fate. Children who could create a better world. You can prevent this Max. Only you.'_

Thanks for the guilt trip.

'What about us?' Dark suddenly asked.

I turned questionably to him as if to say 'what about you?'

'Well, possibly not _me_ exactly, but Daisuke doesn't have the police or Itex on his tail. He could go to the police and report Satoshi and Kiba as missing and see where that leads.'

'I could also talk to Sae…Takeshi-kun and see if he's heard anything,' Daisuke added.

'That's a good idea,' complimented Iggy.

I glared at him and he knew it.

'What more could you want Max?' he asked me directly, 'There's no risk of exposing ourselves and there's no danger to Daisuke. If we're lucky we might just get somewhere with it and if it doesn't work, then no harm done. All those in favor of this plan say aye'

'Aye!' came the immediate response from the loudspeaker, the Niwas and my flock.

I threw my hands up in defeat.

'Since when do we decide plans by vote?' I asked groggily.

'There's a first time for everything,' Iggy said smugly.

A little later, Daisuke, Emiko and Daichii were preparing to go out. Emiko and Daichii wanted to go see Mum and Jeb (barf) and Daisuke was going to go to the police station. They had just finished putting their coats on when Emiko suddenly squealed.

'Oh no! I haven't put the laundry in the wash yet!'

The Niwas groaned.

'Can't that wait until you get back?' asked Daichii.

'Absolutely not! Dark's outfit is in this load! Who knows when he's going to make another theft, it needs to be washed NOW!'

And without a backwards glance, she rushed out the room. Daichii slumped on the nearest couch next to Gassy, suddenly exhausted by his daughter's boundless energy.

Daisuke sweatdropped at his mother's behavior and began to head out the door with a quick farewell. Dark was hot on his heels and Daisuke had just exited the living room before he was forcibly turned around by Dark grabbing his wrist.

From where I was sitting, on my couch/bed, I could clearly see the pair of them in the hallway and Daisuke's face had visibly reddened when Dark grabbed him. With my super mutant hearing I heard Dark whisper cautionary caring words in Daisuke's ear and his blush became even deeper and his eyes darted to anything but Dark. I saw a smirk quirk at the edge of Dark's lips and he leaned his face closer to Daisuke's. Daisuke's head instantly jerked to face him and his eyes became wide at their close proximity. Dark paused in his advance and began speaking once again.

I turned away from them as Dark's words were becoming more…intimate and I tried to focus on something else. I found myself staring at my flock, who were staring at the wall which Dark and Daisuke were concealed behind.

Oh dear.

A light blush had stained Nudge's cheeks and Angel was holding Celeste closely, looking as though she was listening to a really good bedtime story. Gassy looked freaked, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, and Iggy was chewing on his cheek, trying not to laugh.

I thought it was best to bring this…awkward situation to an end, for the sake of the couple's pride and for my flock's sanity. I coughed loudly, getting both of their attention. Dark glared at me, annoyed that I broke his…moment.

'I don't mean to interrupt,' I lied, 'but we have a group of mutant freaks with super mutant hearing in the next room.'

I didn't think Daisuke's face could get any redder, well it did. He hid his face in obvious embarrassment and even Dark had a faint blush tingeing across his nose. I used all of my steel will to keep a straight face. Dark's face was priceless.

'I'll be back later,' Daisuke said in a squeaky voice, releasing himself from Dark and practically running through the front door.

Iggy couldn't hold it in anymore and was laughing as loud as his lungs would allow.

'What is it?' Daichii asked, awaking from his snooze.

'Nothing,' Dark and I said at the same time.

Emiko reappeared into the room and dragged Daichii of his seat.

'Really Dad, I was only gone for five minutes,' she scolded, and they both left the building.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

Dark stood in the doorway facing us, putting on a passive mask to appear unaffected by his totally embarrassing moment. He wasn't fooling anyone.

Iggy broke the silence.

'Strawberries.'

I cracked up and tried to stifle my laughter a bit with my hand. I couldn't hold it in anymore. Iggy was also bent over in stitches and the others of my flock had either bashful smiles or were scrunching their face in disgust.

Dark curled his fist in anger then stormed off up the stairs.

I quickly got up and called after him.

'You should've spoken in that Japanese gibberish then we wouldn't have understood it.'

I returned to my seat when I heard the door to Daisuke's room slam shut. Iggy was supporting himself against the counter of the kitchen island and taking deep breaths.

'God that was funny, I know it was supposed to be an intimate moment but…just too funny!'

'Why was Dark even saying stuff like that to another guy?' Gassy asked, his voice slightly strained.

I sighed, it looks like I'll need to have a talk to him later about the strange ways of the adult world. I looked at the girls and noticed that Angel hadn't moved from her position and her face was fixed into an expression of awe.

'Angel?' I asked cautiously.

'That was beautiful yet very disturbing. Did you know that Dark kept imagining Daisuke naked throughout that?' she said innocently.

Holy sweet mother of God, I did NOT want to know that.

'Angel sweetie, I think it would be best if you stay out of Dark's mind…indefinitely,' I added sternly.

I just hoped Angel's mind wasn't going to become too warped from this experience. She already looked to be in the process of becoming a yaoi fan.

'What does yaoi mean?' she asked, again with innocence.

'Something you do not need to know at your age.'

'Someone's at the door,' Iggy said suddenly, serious.

I tensed. My flock quickly ducked behind the couches or flattened themselves against the wall, out of sight from the window. It was a tactic which I drilled into my flock since we first came here. The curtains were closed but we didn't take any chances.

Then the door bell rang.

We never answer the door. First rule of survival when you're in someone else's home and also one of the things that Jeb taught us. We knew Dark wouldn't answer the door either due to his fame…or should I say infame, even though it's not a real word.

The door bell rang again and I looked at Angel. She gave a nod and closed her eyes, concentrating. When she opened her eyes she looked at me and shrugged her shoulders.

I frowned, that either meant she doesn't know who it was, or she doesn't know what their intentions were. I then motioned to Gassy and he swiftly and quietly made his way to the window.

He slowly peeked through the curtains to see who was outside and his reaction was unexpected. His eyes widened like saucers and his mouth dropped open. Tears were suddenly streaming down his cheeks and leaving behind wet trails.

I was suddenly in a panic. Who in the world could bring tears to his eyes? We're all a tough bunch, it takes a lot to make one of us cry. But I have to admit; even I was on the verge of tears when Gassy mouthed one word to me.

Fang.

I was at the door in a second, my flock close behind me. Dark hair, dark clothes, black eyes, tall and cool. It was him. Once that was confirmed in my mind which only took about a second, I literally pounced on him and my flock soon joined me.

'MAX!!!'

My happiness was soon shattered by Angel's cry and I whirled around to look at her. She was still standing at the door, crying and staring at Fang with the most heart breaking expression I'd ever seen on her small sweet face. I forgot about Fang and I left him to go comfort her, but I was suddenly stopped as something grabbed my wrist. When I looked, it was Fang's hand.

'Fang, I need to go to her.'

'You're not going anywhere,' he said emotionlessly.

I stared at him shocked. He never gave me orders and it sure as hell is not going to start now. Happy reunion or no.

'Fang. Let. Me. Go.' I said dangerously.

By now the flock had realised something was wrong and backed off a bit. Fang's grip didn't loosen; in fact it got tighter, tight enough to bruise.

'Fang?' I heard Nudge call uncertainly.

He and I ignored her and I kept my attention on Fang, who was staring unblinkingly with dead black eyes. This wasn't the Fang I knew. This was an imposter.

With lightning speed I grabbed the arm that was attached to the hand restraining me and yanked it away. I took a step back and observed his reaction. His eyes never left mine and he casually rubbed his arm as if I gave him a playful light punch instead of a bone breaking hit…at least it would be to a normal human anyway.

I could hear Angel whimpering and I sent her an urgent thought.

'_Angel! What's going on?'_

'_I-I don't know! That is Fang, it feels like Fang but…he doesn't __recognise__ us. He just sees us as a target, he's been ordered to capture us…'_

'_Capture us?!!!'_

'…_dead or alive'_

I didn't understand. Why would Fang suddenly turn on us? How could he suddenly forget-.

Krad. I thought the name bitterly.

'Tell me, do you happen to be working for a long blonde haired transvestite called Krad?'

He blinked but did not answer; instead he bent his legs and sprang. I avoided him easily and made an attack of my own. He avoided it as well and then jumped away, putting distance between us once again.

'Answer me Fang! What did Krad do to you!' I screamed.

'My name…'

He ran forwards and caught me by surprise, swinging his arm to catch my neck and knocking me to the ground, winded.

'…is not Fang…'

I saw him prepare to slam his elbow down but I rolled out the way just in time and jumped to my feet.

'…it's Kiba.'

His breath tickled the back of my neck and I was suddenly flying through the air, landing on the ground with an 'oomph.' My body was in shock and I could do nothing as I saw him walk towards me. He stopped a kickable distance from me and looked down on me with those lifeless eyes.

I forced my body to move and I got a kick in the stomach for my efforts. I curled into a ball in pain and he sent another kick to my head. Red filled my vision for a moment and then cleared. I felt warm liquid running down my face but I ignored it. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot.

I saw another kick aimed at my face and I quickly caught it before it made contact. Despite my body screaming in obvious pain I forced myself to stand, still holding his foot and gave a swift kick to his balls.

Even though he was acting like an emotionless robot, his body certainly wasn't. I pushed him backwards and he fell to the ground curling up and clutching his privates. I swear I saw some anger flash in his eyes and he bit his lip so hard that it bled in his attempt to not cry out.

It gave me some time to recover as well. My flock stood at the side lines and I gave them a look that told them not to interfere. I saw Gassy pass the message on to Iggy and he grit his teeth in anger.

I didn't have time to deal with Iggy's male pride as 'Kiba' got to his feet with a line of blood down his chin. This time his eyes weren't so empty, anger and humiliation burned in his black orbs and I knew now that he was going to fight to kill.

We began circling each other, searching for any weaknesses in our defense and staring each other down. Of course I wasn't going to give in and if any part of Fang was still in there, he wouldn't either.

Then at some unspoken signal, we lunged at each other at exactly the same time.

He swung a fist at my head and I easily blocked it. Next he tried to jab his knee into my side and I quickly stepped to the side to avoid it. I aimed a side kick to his head, but he blocked it with his arm, grabbed my ankle and then swept my other foot from under me. I was quickly pinned to the ground and then he began to strangle me.

His grip tightened as I fought for air and I arched my back, trying to throw him off. He held on tight and slammed my head to the floor, so hard that I was seeing stars.

Out of the corner of my blurring vision I could see the flock. They watched this scene with frightened eyes.

My strength was leaving and my lungs burned for air.

So this was it…this time, I was really going to die.

…

Yeah right.

I grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it into his face. The choking grip around my throat loosened as he furiously wiped the dirt from his eyes. I took a deep breath and used all my strength to flip him and myself over so that now I was the one on top. The tables had turned but I did not strangle him like he did with me. Instead I pinned his wrists so he couldn't pull the same stunt on me and used my weight, as light as it is, to pin him down.

I know he could easily throw me off, being male and slightly heavier than me, but he just lay there panting underneath me.

'Why?' he said catching his breath, 'Why don't you kill me?'

I laughed at him. I couldn't help it. This was Fang, even though it wasn't Fang, pinned under me with the most pitiful un-Fang-like expression and asking me why don't I kill him. It's hilarious really.

'First off,' I began, 'even though you say you're not, to me you're still Fang. Secondly, if I killed you then I wouldn't get any answers.'

'If you let me live, you still won't get any answers. My lips are sealed.'

He frowned at me in confusion when a wide evil grin spread across my face.

'We'll see about that.'

'Hardly,' he said through gritted teeth.

That was the moment he decided to throw me. I was expecting it so I was on my feet again quickly. Another long banter of punches, blocks and kicks went on and then he suddenly clutched his side, closing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth in agony. I didn't even do anything.

'Shit,' he swore.

His legs were beginning to shake but he braced them to stop them from collapsing. Still clutching his side he raised his head to look me in the eye, his gaze full of annoyance and fear.

The symptoms that he was showing looked awfully familiar and my mind jumped to that night of Dark's theft. They were the same ones.

'Maximum Ride.'

I was shocked for a moment, the flock never call me by my full name and hearing it come from Fang was weird.

'Angel, Nudge, Gassy, Iggy,' he said, turning to address them.

Now what was he up to?

'Come with me.'

Ok. Now I full blown confused, first he attacks and then he's asks nicely. That's some twisted logic if he thinks that's going to work.

'Why?'

'If you come quietly, you won't be harmed.'

Oh, _that_ was the plan, I thought sarcastically.

'And what will you do if we don't?' I shot back, 'you're seriously out numbered, you're shaking like a leaf and my flock won't do squat unless I say so.'

He smirked.

'Shame.'

He removed his hand from his jacket where he was clutching his side and stood up straight, perfectly fine.

It was all an act?!

I made the stupid mistake of letting my guard down. I was too late to lunge at him, dodge or defend myself in any kind of way.

He had already raised the gun in his hand and pulled the trigger.

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**(insert evil laughter) I loved writing this. It just suddenly came to me, the idea that the flock over hear something they shouldn't have with their mutant hearing! I'm not going to tell you what exactly they were talking about. You can figure it out for yourselves. **

**Iggy: Strawberries**

**Me: lol**

**Iggy: Straaaaaaaaaawbeeeeeeerrieeeeeeees!**

**Me: Ok that's not funny Iggy**

**Iggy: ...**

**Iggy: Strawberries**

**Me: R&R**


	23. Chapter 23

**Action, action and more action. This was extremely hard to write, phew! Another long waited update. Now that exams are over :D I can now spend my time focusing on my theory…and writing up more of my story of course. Read and review.**

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Dark lay on Daisuke's bed brooding. He was humiliated and angry at himself for getting carried away, but he just couldn't help himself.

Last night had been the best night of his life; Daisuke didn't reject him as Dark thought he would and instead, accepted his attentions. It was too early in the relationship to know just how much Daisuke felt for him but there certainly was an attraction and Dark was happy to have even that.

The memory of Daisuke's lips were soft and so sweet, he didn't want Daisuke to leave him for another long period of time without regaining that memory afresh. Dark didn't even get that. He was so drawn into Daisuke eyes, so wide and innocent that he couldn't resist teasing him and dying Daisuke's cheeks dark pink.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the extensive hearing that his guests had and was interrupted prematurely.

Dark covered his face as the expressions of said guests appeared clearly in his mind. He didn't think he would be able to live this humiliation down.

The doorbell didn't disturb Dark's thoughts. He knew well that the flock wouldn't answer and shifted his weight to a more comfortable position, preparing to take a nap.

He was beginning to doze when he heard voices from outside. There were loud yells of excitement and Dark opened his eyes groggily.

Suddenly there was a heart wrenching scream and Dark quickly jumped off the bed and pushed the curtain aside. He observed the spectacle below with surprise.

The flock had gone outside and had gathered around Kiba…no, Fang, hugging him and patting him on the back in obvious joy. Fang hadn't reacted at all to their reunion and his face was set in an impassive frown. He's scarily familiar to creepy boy, Dark thought distastefully. Angel's cry had grabbed their attention and Dark watched uneasily as Fang grabbed Max's wrist in a controlling manner.

The atmosphere turned from welcoming to hostile and Max and Fang began a violent battle.

Dark didn't know whether he should intervene or not. This wasn't his fight so he didn't really have the right to stop it. If he did, Max would have a go at him and if he didn't, someone could get extremely hurt. What had Dark most baffled was why were they even fighting each other in the first place? Something was extremely wrong. Dark decided to watch and wait and see how it turned out.

The moves they were executing looked very powerful and were easily kicking up dust and dirt from the small garden. Fang had Max pinned and started choking her. Dark's hand reached for the handle of the window but then Max suddenly turned the tables and pinned Fang instead. Dark relaxed for now, but he kept his hand rested on the handle.

As the fight progressed, Dark watched suspiciously as Fang suddenly clutched his side in pain and began speaking to the flock. Dark didn't like the tone at which Fang was speaking nor did he like how Max had dropped her guard.

Then he saw it. A slight shift of Fang arm and the shine of something metal hidden inside his jacket had Dark rushing out the window. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

* * *

Max felt like time had stood still.

The explosion of sound that the gun created was still ringing in her ears. Her heart was pounding so fast it seemed to have stopped and she could taste the bile rising to her throat. She slowly swallowed and it burned.

Forgetting how to breathe, she found her chest tightening at the lack of fresh air and her diaphragm pulled painfully and instinctively, forcing the air that she had denied herself into her lungs.

Uncontrolled hot tears leaked into her eyes and ran down her blood covered cheek. Mingling and mixing with the thick red liquid to create transparent ruby drops of salty water. Shock held her body in a vice.

She saw Fang standing where he was. His body was rigid as a board and his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

Dark stood behind him. His eyes narrowed in a deep angry indigo and mouth was set in a grim thin line. He had one hand gripped firmly on the gun in Fang's hand and had forced Fang to point it upwards. His other hand had Fang's other arm pinned behind his back.

Max's legs gave way beneath her and she was forced to her knees.

The shock of the bullet just grazing her temple and the shock that Fang, her best friend and love, was the one behind the trigger…it was too much.

'Drop the gun, Fang,' Dark said slowly in a deep threatening voice.

Fang was undeterred and spoke back lowly.

'How many times do I have to say it?'

With a speed that took Dark by surprise, Fang moved his body flexibly to the side and hooked his leg around Dark's. Pulling both their legs off the ground, he slammed his back into Dark's stomach, effectively knocking him off his feet and knocking the wind out of him as Fang landed on him.

'My name is Kiba,' he finished, getting to his feet and pointing the gun at Dark.

Again he was denied his target as he was spun around and punched in the jaw, snapping his head around and stumbling.

'Look after Max, Dark,' an angry voice hissed.

Kiba recovered and faced his next opponent. It was Iggy.

'You're at a bit of a disadvantage, aren't you?' Kiba mocked.

'I don't need sight to see you're a dickhead.'

Kiba snorted.

'Also…' Iggy continued.

Iggy made to lunge at him and Kiba quickly brought the gun up. Iggy dodged to the side at the rushing sound of air, predicting Kiba's moves. He heard the air rush again as Kiba readjusted his aim but he reached Kiba first before he could pull the trigger. Iggy quickly slammed his hand accurately into the joint of Kiba's out stretched arm, hitting a nerve that would temporarily disable it and cause him to lose grip of the gun.

Iggy kicked his hand hard and sent the gun flying…literally. Iggy heard a clatter from somewhere above; the gun had landed on a roof and thankfully hadn't gone off.

Kiba yelled out in pain and his arm fell limply by his side, blood dripped from his fingers and he knew that he must have broken at least two of them. He saw Iggy back off a bit, hands out in a defensive stance and tensed like a coiled spring.

'There is no way that Fang would pull a gun on Max. Fang's voice may be coming out of your mouth but that's not going to fool me in the slightest. You've threatened my family and insulted Fang's name and I can't forgive you for it. I'm not going to have any hesitance in killing you,' Iggy said coldly.

Kiba stood still as he drank Iggy's words. His arm was still in pain but it was no longer immovable, he brought his hand to his lips and licked the blood away, smirking.

'Same goes for me.'

* * *

Picking up the authoritative tone in Iggy's voice, Dark carried Max bridal style and brought her back inside, laying her out on the couch carefully. She was still in shock, her eyes were wide and she was shaking slightly. Gassy and Angel had followed Dark inside and spoke reassuring words to her, as much as two terrified children could and held her hand.

Dark peered outside and saw Kiba and Iggy fighting. Nudge was still standing in the doorway looking horrified as she watched the death battle take place. Both boys were bleeding and pulling moves that Dark was sure weren't humanly possible. Dark thought them quite lucky that no one has shown up to all of the commotion but he was sure it wasn't going to stay that way for long. He somehow had to get them out of here.

'Dark?'

Dark turned to find Max sitting up, her eyes were focused again and the shakes had stopped.

'What has happened to Fang?'

What indeed, Dark thought. He kept an eye on Nudge for a moment, her wild eyes making it easy to see what she was thinking and Dark hoped the thought of stepping in hadn't crossed her mind. The fight between the boys was becoming more brutal by the second.

'We need to get out of here,' Dark answered, ignoring her question, 'that gun shot is going to have people swarming here soon, are you fit enough to fly?'

Max noticed the urgency in his tone and nodded, but she gave him a look that said as-soon-as-we're-out-of-here-you-are-giving-me-answers.

Dark gave her a cocky grin and motioned them to follow him. Once outside he summoned With and scooped a numb un-reactive Nudge into his arms. Taking off quickly, he looked behind to make sure the flock was following and he caught the flash of blue lights in the distance.

'Max! Get Iggy up here!'

'Not so fast.'

Emerging from the buildings behind them, Krad swooped down with a predatory grin. His white wings flared behind him as his whole body began to glow. Dark and the flock instinctively reacted to Krad's posture, shifting to the side before a storm of feathers rained down on them. Krad laughed crazily.

'HA HA HA!!! You should have seen your face Dark-kun. Surprised to see me?!'

Another rain of feathers descended upon him and Dark was finding it difficult to maneuver quickly in the air with Nudge in his arms. He narrowly avoided getting hit in the leg. Dark turned to Nudge to find her eyes were still focused on her two brothers fighting below, not even aware of the danger she currently was in. Dark growled in annoyance.

Unexpectedly Krad was suddenly before him, flying in sync with his speed and direction.

'Allow me to free you from your handicap,' Krad grinned.

Dark saw a golden orb of magic begin to grow in Krad's palm, but Krad was too close for him to evade. He did the only thing he could do to take Nudge out of danger, he threw her into the air and hoped she would come to her senses. Dark took the full blow of Krad's attack.

Nudge's attention finally drew away from the ground when sudden weightlessness and pull of gravity took effect on her body. With her awareness back where it belonged, she snapped her wings out and turned to observe her surroundings to find it obscured by smoke.

Nudge flapped her wings to beat the smoke away and choked on the fumes. As the smoke thinned, Nudge wiped the tears that the smoke forced from her eyes and saw the damage which the smoke was born from. She covered her mouth with her hands and stifled a gasp.

Dark laid on his back with his limbs sprawled and his head tilted to the side. His body was in the centre of a cobweb of cracks that littered the tiles of the roof he collided against. There was a huge burn hole in his dark blue jumper, exposing a nasty wound on Dark's chest that was bleeding profoundly.

With, looking slightly battered from the fall, had shrunk from his winged form and pawed at Dark's face, trying to wake him. He cried at him and hit him harder when Dark's eyes remained closed.

'Oh my God…Dark…'

Malicious laughter echoed in the air around her and she snapped her head around in panic, trying to find the source of the dreadful sound. She saw the other members of the flock searching too, it seemed Krad had disappeared from sight but his voice was still clearly heard.

'Look at yourself! You're weak! You should have just let the freak take the hit, then maybe you could have retaliated but noooooooooo, you have to play the noble hero and look where that's got you! You've left them all completely defenseless! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!'

The smoke had completely cleared now and there was still no sign of Krad's whereabouts. Whilst Nudge continuously checked around herself for danger, Krad's voice seemed to repeat itself in her head, _'You should have let the freak take the hit! The FREAK!'_ He meant her, didn't he? She was the reason why Dark was like this. Nudge felt guilt plague her and she unconsciously looked down. The boys were still fighting.

'You're next my pretty.'

Nudge's blood ran cold and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She barely understood what happened next as she was suddenly flung forwards at speed. Regaining her balance and control, she flew away towards Angel and Gazzy, putting as much distance as possible from the crazed angel.

Meanwhile, Max arced around after delivering a 200mph uppercut punch to Krad's jaw and pushing Nudge away from him. As Nudge flew away, Max let all her fury, adrenaline and the strength of human and avian DNA combined into her next offence.

Krad's head was still snapped back by the force of Max's punch and she didn't give him any time to recover as she slammed her foot into Krad's chest. Air left his lungs with a 'whoosh' and a few specks of blood flew from his mouth. She didn't stop there. As Krad was falling, she tucked her wings in tight and spun in midair to deliver a very painful looking knee to Krad's stomach, narrowly missing his groin. More blood spluttered from his mouth and his body curled against the pain. His falling speed was dramatically increased and he fell to the earth like a meteor, his wings trailed behind like a tail.

Iggy and Kiba froze in mid-motion when the large man landed on the ground nearby, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and dirt. Kiba searched above him to find the one who caused this, his eyes locking instantly onto Max and he almost forgot how to breathe.

Her hair was whipping around her face like a golden flame, haloing her head in an almost angelic fashion. Her face was creased with fury, her teeth bared in an angry snarl and her eyes aroused something akin to fear in his heart. Her entire body rippled power as her pale wings beat slowly and heavily.

Kiba was suddenly frozen to the spot as those piercing blue eyes settled on him. He felt strange. Her eyes…those eyes that were once burning with rage suddenly cooled and calmed when she looked at him.

Why?

What was this feeling…this warm, painful ache that suddenly bloomed in his chest and this overwhelming desire to hold her? What was wrong with him?

The sound of sirens approaching broke him from his trance and he gave Max one last glare before delivering a swift kick to a distracted Iggy's temple and running to the fallen Krad.

Max dropped to the ground to help Iggy, who was verging on the edge of unconsciousness.

To almost everyone's surprise, Krad peeled himself off the ground to sit up, grinding his teeth in pain and anger. He shoved Kiba away when he tried to help him and glared death at Max, who returned the look evenly.

'The next time we meet, _I'm going to make it so you never wished you were born_,' Krad barely whispered threateningly.

He weakly drew a feather from his clothes and then he and Kiba were gone, disappearing in a flash of bright light.

Max quickly shouted some orders and got everyone into the air, Nudge and Gazzy, with a little help from Angel, carried Dark between them whilst Max kept a close eye on Iggy. By the time the police arrived, they were mere specks in the sky.

* * *

Max stood at the edge of the rock face of the cliff Dark had shown them before and stared at the flat sea. The serene calm that the weather brought did nothing to hinder the storm of thoughts raging in her head.

Krad had done something to Fang…that she was sure of. Again it was this god forsaken magic which they had no defense against and no way of fighting it. Max thought herself extremely lucky for getting the chance she did to make Krad bleed, she would never have been able to dodge all those attacks and get close enough to touch him if his focus was solely on her.

Another thing was that this ongoing battle was time consuming. Time she frankly didn't have. Coming here had set a major set back to her mission, so many unexpected factors were suddenly coming in to bite her in the butt and she still hadn't fully extracted all the teeth. Flyboys, magical artwork, evil angels, another manipulating bad guy, they were all things she really didn't need.

And then there was Fang.

Max felt grief grip her at the memory of his beautiful black eyes glaring fiercely at her, full of hate and loathing. It hurt.

Max would rather spend a night in a reptile house with the cages unlocked than to have witnessed what she did today.

Was this another test? Were they testing her feelings for him? Seeing how far she could be pushed until she broke? Well, she was breaking…

…and so were her flock.

Thankfully, none of the flock were hurt, except for a few cuts and bruises along with a major headache but other than that they were all conscious and breathing. Dark on the other hand wasn't looking too good.

Iggy had gone straight to work, using his sensitive nimble fingers to probe and examine his wound and tore up Dark's damaged top to use as bandages.

Dark had woken up shortly after and had just put on a pained smile and said he was fine. Fine my ass, Max thought.

Once Iggy was done he was surprised by a tearful Nudge, who buried her face in his blood stained shirt and began mumbling things along the lines of, idiot, scared, don't do that again. He unsurely wrapped his arms around her and a slight blush was visible on his cheeks.

The younger kids were also fighting tears and Dark held his arms out, despite how much pain it put him in and they accepted them gratefully. Max walked away, giving them and herself some space.

After some time and some deep thinking, Max looked back her at her depressed Flock and knew that somehow she was going to have to pick herself up.

No more brooding, no more waiting. It was time to head out. Max just hoped the Flock would understand.

At the moment, Fang wasn't Fang and that meant there was nothing here to tie her down. She will have to save the world and come back to bash some sense into him later. That's all she could do for now.

She put on a brave face and prepared to face her Flock She wouldn't say anything for now, it wasn't a good time. Tomorrow, she will tell them, lift her head high and survive. That was what she was made for.

'_Well done Max'_

* * *

**Kiba is like an evil Fang. I'm thinking of making a chapter which is from Kiba's point of view, we get to see what he's thinking and how he is struggling to suppress his past self. What do you lot think? Review!**


	24. Chapter 24

**YAY!!! Chapter 24 is up! It has been crazy trying to write this. My parents are putting pressure on me to pass my theory and driving test DX so creativity had slowed to a crawl...on a good note I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews, you know who you are and thank you very much!!! R&R**

* * *

The next morning was cloudy. Daisuke and Daichii stood amongst the wild shrubbery and watched as Max and her flock flew into the distance.

It was very unexpected. Max had got _everyone_ up early this morning and suddenly announced that they were leaving. Even her flock was surprised. She left no room for arguments and was nervously fussing about like they were going to their first day of school. Dark was still healing from his wounds so Max thoughtfully left him be, despite thinking up a hilarious plan to wake him. Emiko stayed behind as well to watch over him and change his bandages. Everyone else left and went to the cliff site. After a few heartwarming goodbyes with a few hugs and kisses, the cold strong morning breeze easily lifted the five bird kids into the air and Daisuke and Daichii could only stare jealous awe.

Once they were out of sight, Daisuke and Daichii turned away and walked silently back to the house. Even though they knew that they would be back, somehow that goodbye seemed somewhat final and a strong sense of dread hung in the air.

Saving the world can not be an easy job, Daisuke thought.

Daisuke was down as he climbed the stairs to his room and quietly opened the door to find his mother inside. She was a quarter of the way up the small ladder to his bed and was resting her head on her forearms. Daisuke smiled warmly at her. She used to do that when he was younger, before he dropped off to sleep. She was like an ever watching angel smiling down at him and sometimes she would even sing to him. At the time he thought it was the best sound in the world, now however, he had developed some taste.

Dark lay peacefully asleep on his bed, unaware of Emiko's concerned gaze. Daisuke was not deceived by Dark's serene appearance; he knew that beneath the covers, Dark's chest was mummified in bandages and it had taken a lot of strong painkillers and sleeping tablets before Dark was comfortable enough to fall into a slumber.

Daisuke plucked the depressed With from his nest of hair and placed him on his pillow next to Dark's head. Emiko scooted over so Daisuke could fit at least one foot onto her step. Daisuke held onto the bed rail to keep steady.

'You're growing again,' she whispered.

Daisuke found his mother looking up from her resting position and smiling warmly at him. He had indeed grown. He had already overtaken his grandpa in height and was catching up with his mother fast.

'Must be all that food I've had to make,' she giggled.

Daisuke gave her a small smile in response, remembering the vast amount of food that the flock consumed daily. He had to admit that he did take advantage at times and ate a bit more than he possibly needed. Thankfully, that food was making him grow upwards and not outwards.

'How long should it take for Dark to heal?'

They gazed back at the still form on the bed and Emiko sighed.

'It's hard to say. If his body is completely human then he should heal at what we would call normal, but Dark isn't human so I don't know. I'm not sure if his magic will automatically kick in to heal him either. We should know over the next few days. If we're still around that is.'

Daisuke's heart constricted at the thought. He stared at Dark's face and dreadfully thought that he might not get the chance to tell Dark how he truly feels. He'd never get to see the flock again, eat with them or joke with them. He'd never be forced into a headlock by Saehara, never get to talk to Hiwatari-kun...

…was this his and everyone's fate? Did they really have no say? Were they really that insignificant that they should be sacrificed for a so called greater good that…?

…What were they dying for again?

There can't possibly be a cause where millions of people have to die. Daisuke just couldn't believe that. He couldn't believe that all this was going to happen over the next few days…

…unless Max could stop it…no. Max _would_ stop it. Daisuke had every faith in her; she was strong, determined and brave and had been putting her life on the line countless times and always succeeded…

…at least that is what she had told him.

As his mind wandered, Daisuke's fingers wove their way into the violent strands of Dark's hair and savored the cool silkiness as it easily slid and parted at his touch. His thoughts were soon distracted as his fingers explored the long bangs that made up Dark's fringe and then wandered to the shorter strands at the back. Daisuke found the action surprisingly pleasurable and he didn't want to stop. Once his fingers had fully memorised Dark's hair, he found them caressing ever closer to Dark's hairline and golden tanned skin.

The sudden heat of Dark's skin made Daisuke's fingertips tingle and instantly began to investigate the new texture. It was smooth yet rough and Daisuke was fascinated at how it changed from the softness of his cheek to hardness of his jaw. Daisuke froze when he felt Dark shift but did not awaken.

Daisuke suddenly blushed as he realised what he had been doing and jerked his hand away. The movement caused his shoulder to brush against another and he was instantly reminded of the other presence in the room. He turned red faced to his smirking mother.

'Oh Dai-_chan_,' she said sweetly.

Now he was in for a teasing.

'When were you going to tell me you had the hots for Dark hmmm?'

He might as well tell her. She still had a teasing look in her eye but she needed to know how he felt, needed her support if she would give it and hoped that she would accept his choice.

'I don't have the hots for Dark,' Daisuke said seriously.

Daisuke face became even redder as he formed the words in his mind. In the end he had to break eye contact with Emiko's twinkling eyes and stare at his fidgeting hands that had tangled themselves in Dark's hair again. He forced them still and took a deep breath.

'I don't have the hots for Dark,' he repeated, keeping his voice steady, 'I…love him.'

Daisuke felt as though a great weight was lifted from his chest. He had said it, not directly to him but he had said it out loud and if possible he felt surer about it.

'I love Dark Mousy.'

Daisuke kept his eyes on his hands and waited for the unbearable teasing he was about to receive, but when he was only greeted in silence he began to worry. He raised his eyes to look at his mother and he felt his heart drop to his stomach.

She was staring at him like she just had the biggest fright of her life, her eyes were wide and she had covered her mouth with her hand.

Then Daisuke realised; he didn't really know what her thoughts were about gay relationships and her reaction had raised a lump to his throat.

'Mom?' he croaked.

Emiko stepped off the ladder and stood in the centre of the room, her hand was still fisted at her mouth and her other hand had placed itself over her heart. She kept her back to him.

Daisuke followed her but didn't know what to say. That he was sorry? No, there was nothing to be sorry for, yet he felt guilty for causing that look upon her face. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she slowly turned around. Daisuke felt the familiar sting of tears prick at his eyes when he saw his mother's watery eyes. Her eyes shined with moisture and at any moment they were going to overflow.

Unexpectedly the tears cascaded down her cheeks as her lips pulled back into a huge smile. Just as unexpectedly, she leapt onto Daisuke and latched her arms around his neck.

'Oh Dai-chan! You've all grown up!'

She pulled back and held him arms length away from her, the tears were still flowing but she was smiling affectionately at him.

'You've matured so much without me noticing. Where's my baby Daisuke gone!'

Daisuke couldn't really believe what he was hearing and the tears he had tried to keep contained were let loose.

'Dai-chan! Darling what's wrong?'

'I-I thought you di-disapproved. I t-thought you hated m-me,' he cried.

'Oh Daisuke.'

Emiko embraced him once more, but this time she gave him room to breathe and rubbed his back.

'I would have accepted you no matter what, Dai-chan. I was just a bit surprised! I thought you liked Risa.'

'I did…but,' Daisuke sighed, 'she never saw me as anything more than a friend.'

To Daisuke's surprise, his heart didn't hurt as much as he thought it would but he hugged his mom closer, just incase it was a late reaction. Emiko hugged back in response.

'I'm sorry Dai-chan,' she said honestly, 'but I am so proud of you.'

Daisuke felt her arms tighten slightly and then she gave him a peck on the cheek.

'You used to get so flustered and defensive at the mere mentioning of romantic feelings; I thought you'd remain my baby boy forever! But you've grown up; you've come to terms with your feelings and even gained the guts to admit it to your own mother! I am so proud of you! Oh my! I'm going to have to accept the prospect of having a future son in law!'

Daisuke nodded bashfully to her comments…until her words actually processed in his brain and his cheeks put his hair to shame.

'MOM!'

* * *

Dark couldn't help but smile. He could just imagine the adorable expression and colour that must be adorning Daisuke's face. If Dark wasn't so doped from the sleeping pills he was sure he would also be blushing at Emiko's comment.

Dark heard Emiko escape from her stuttering son with a few last words on how great Daisuke would look in a wedding dress. Dark mentally laughed. But Emiko was right; Daisuke _would_ look good in a wedding dress.

He heard Daisuke sigh and could feel his eyes on him. There was a heavy silence.

Dark assumed that Daisuke had left and was about to move until the fingers that had awoken him blissfully from his slumber earlier were threading themselves deeply into his hair. Dark remained ignorantly still, afraid that if he moved, those digits that were deliciously massaging his scalp would pull away like before.

However, as this delightful torture wore on, Dark found it increasingly difficult to remain motionless and silent. Daisuke's fingertips were dancing over Dark's skin and the tentative pressure he applied was causing Dark's body to react to an extreme which he never thought could happen from such a delicate touch.

Daisuke didn't seem to notice Dark's slight change in breathing, nor did he seem to feel the quickened beat of his heart. Eventually Daisuke found a sensitive spot on Dark's neck and Dark let loose a restrained groan which sounded like a deep animalistic growl.

Daisuke jumped back in surprise and returned just as quickly, mistaking the sound of Dark's pleasure as pain.

'Dark?'

'Don…op,' Dark moaned.

'Donut?'

'Don't stop.'

Daisuke hovered over Dark with his face beginning to burn from embarrassment and a small amount of anger. He had been awake all that time and he didn't say anything?!

Dark opened his glazed purple eyes and turned his head to look at him. There was a slight quirk at the edge of his lips but he wasn't smirking. In fact Daisuke had never seen Dark look so content in his life.

Dark uncovered his arm from under the bed covers, allowing Daisuke a brief glimpse at the damage of Dark's upper body as the cover rose with Darks arm and slipped off again. Daisuke molded his hand to the one offered and Dark brought it back to the spot where his explorations had last been.

Daisuke hesitated. Dark being unconscious was one thing; he shouldn't have touched him like that in the first place, but touching him awake? What if he did something he didn't like or accidentally touched one of his wounds? What if-

Daisuke's line of thought was abruptly cut off as Dark's hand slowly stroked up and down his forearm, encouraging him. Dark's eyes never left him and he was gazing at him with something Daisuke couldn't identify, but it was causing his throat to go dry. Daisuke swallowed and ever so slowly began a circular motion with his thumb.

Dark's eyes instantly fluttered shut and his chest suddenly plummeted as he released a long sigh. Dark turned his head further into his pillow, giving Daisuke more access and made the caresses along Daisuke's forearm firmer.

Daisuke became drawn into his actions as every caress, touch and even the ghost of his breath against Dark's skin caused Dark to writhe, moan and stare at him with wanting eyes. Daisuke wasn't sure when they started kissing, he wasn't really sure when he had climbed up onto the bed either. None of that mattered. Just his scent, his touch, his devotion to everything he got his hands on and the knowledge that Dark was feeling exactly the same, made it all feel so right.

Daisuke felt his entire body go up a degree when he felt Dark's tongue probing at his lips. The flexible muscle darted in to lick Daisuke's bottom lip before retreating back teasingly, but it only lasted a moment before it ventured out again. Daisuke's defense began to falter under the assault and Dark's tongue plunged into his mouth and began battling with his own. Daisuke's hands had a mind of their own as the kiss became deeper and more desperate. They fisted in Dark's hair, dug into his back and even boldly moved down Dark's front.

Daisuke was suddenly forced back as Dark broke the kiss and hissed in pain. Realising what he had done, Daisuke eyes widened and quickly shifted off of Dark, slipping his thin frame in the small space between Dark and the wall.

'I'm so sorry Dark. I shouldn't have done that,' Daisuke blurted.

'Daisuke, its fine,' Dark said reassuringly, but Daisuke wasn't buying it.

'No it's not fine! I hurt you Dark! It was a stupid thing to do. I shouldn't even have started touching you in the first place! I-.'

Daisuke face was swiftly pulled forward and Dark's mouth covered his, silencing him. When Dark finally pulled away, Daisuke was dazed.

'And not have you wanting me from just one kiss? I wouldn't have traded that moment for anything. Don't regret it Daisuke, because I sure don't.'

Daisuke blushed but tried to win some dignity back.

'But still! You're hurt! You should be resting! I should leave so you can-,' Daisuke began whilst climbing over Dark.

However he soon found himself back where he was climbing out of and firmly wrapped in one of Dark's arms.

'Dark! Let me go!' he complained.

'No. I like you in my arms,' Dark shot back.

Daisuke pouted, 'I won't be responsible for causing you any more pain. Now let go of me.'

Darks hold didn't slacken.

'Daaaaark!'

'You know, your kisses were much better medicine than those awful pills I had to take,' Dark smirked, 'and I like the sound of your voice begging me for something.'

Daisuke blushed.

'Damn it Dark!'

* * *

Satoshi ignored the scream of pain and held Krad's arm more securely. Kiba was also trying to help to keep Krad's flailing limb still.

Internal bleeding, four broken ribs, a fractured femur, a dislocated wing, several lacerations and broken skin where he had hit the ground and finally a very, very bad temper.

This is the reward he gets for studying medicine, Satoshi thought drearily. He hadn't slept at all. Under the watchful eye of his father and Fang, now Kiba, he was forced to perform a risky operation with absolutely no experience or help except from the knowledge he has gained from the countless books he has read. Hospital was out of the question.

Putting Krad under anesthetic had only lasted a few hours, but thankfully Satoshi had already finished operating on him and stitched him up. His next problem was trying to convince Krad to keep still and let him treat his other wounds.

Satoshi already had a bleeding lip from a swing of Krad's wing after popping it back into place and his arm muscles burned from holding Krad's leg still so he could apply a splint and bandage it. His entire body was exhausted from the lack of sleep and physical exertion of treating Krad. Kiba was in a similar condition.

His father had already disappeared after seeing it was going to take a long time and left his trust in Kiba to make sure Satoshi got the job done.

Oh yes. Satoshi was _really_ going to ignore the blood curling sleep depriving screaming that Krad would produce and be blessed with a short torture free holiday whilst allowing Krad to suffer a very slow and painful recovery just so when he does finally recover, Satoshi would be paid back double for not helping him. He wasn't such a masochist.

Finally, Satoshi had disinfected all of Krad's open wounds, ignored the violent threats that were spat at him and used the last bottle of anesthetic to make Krad shut up for a few hours.

Only once Krad's lids had fully closed and his body fell limp, did Satoshi and Kiba dare let go. Kiba slumped next to the now blood stained bed holding Krad and stretched out his aching muscles.

'Where are you going?'

Satoshi paused on his way out the room.

'You are not permitted to leave this room without my supervision until either Hiwatari-sama or Krad-sama says so,' Kiba said authoratively.

Satoshi wrinkled his nose unpleasantly at the –sama titles.

'Come with me then, I need a hand anyway.'

'I do not take orders off you. State you intentions'

Satoshi gave him a bored look.

'I want to get the chains out of Krad's torture room and use them to tie him securely to the bed so he can't move…unless you really want to spend another night holding him down so I can re-stitch his stitches,' he added when Kiba gave him a suspicious frown.

Satoshi almost smirked when Kiba gave Krad a distasteful glance. Kiba got up from his crouch and walked over.

'Alright, but we're using the leather straps, not the chains.'

'Chains would be stronger,' Satoshi tried as he led the way.

Kiba gave a challenging glare so Satoshi dropped it. He had learnt that trying to argue with Kiba was like arguing with a rock, he just wouldn't budge. He was like a more stubborn and humorless version of Fang with the same air of defiance to anyone other than Kei or Krad. He also seemed to have the mind of a robot and if something did not compute, then you would know about it. Satoshi had yet to earn Kiba's trust.

Satoshi took extra care to fasten the fat strips of thick leather around Krad's battered body. Once the task was completed, Krad looked like he was ready to be shipped off to the madhouse. Satoshi wondered if they should gag him as well.

Making a quick decision, Satoshi quickly shook off his shoes and stripped his socks from his feet. Kiba watched in disgust as Satoshi rolled the socks into a ball and stuck it into Krad's mouth. Krad was still able to breathe through his nose so Kiba couldn't detain him for suffocation, and although it was a rather vulgar way of gagging him, it meant they could have a few extra hours sleep.

Both Satoshi and Kiba left to retire to their room.

Kiba fought his shutting down systems and remained awake until he heard Satoshi's breathing slow and used his unique hearing to measure Satoshi's heartbeat. Logic told him that Satoshi would be too tired to fake unconsciousness but even so, he did not allow himself the pleasure of sleep until he was sure. It was an action that was instinctively programmed into him, but for what reason, he did not know.

Kiba willingly let his eyes close and allowed the absence of Krad's screams and the quiet breaths of his roommate lull him to sleep.

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**Hee hee...Daisuke in a wedding dress. Good ol' Emiko. Hoped you enjoyed the Dark/Dai part D/D fans. POV from Kiba will be next chapter :) **

**REVIEW!!!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Finally! Chapter 25 is up! Sorry for the long wait, I'm having to say that for every chapter aren't I? Heres the chapter we've all been waiting for! Fang/Kiba's POV! I worked hard on it. Enjoy!!!! R&R**

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Something didn't feel right. That was what my gut was telling me but I didn't understand why.

Satoshi was peacefully snoozing in his bed. He had overslept today, not that I blame him. Even I almost gave in to the temptation to stay in bed, uncomfortable as it was it was much better than waking up. Unfortunately I did not have that virtue. Something just did not feel right.

The feeling was still with me as I went downstairs to check on Krad. He was struggling against his binds when I opened the door and began screaming murder when he spotted me. Satoshi's gag wasn't good enough I thought bitterly. I closed the door on him but the slab of rotten wood barely hindered Krad's booming loud voice from escaping the room. I ignored it and went to Kei's office.

Even after I gave in my verbal report and returned to Satoshi's and my room an hour and a half later, the feeling still hadn't dissipated. In fact it felt stronger.

I felt twitchy, restless and found myself thinking of things which didn't make any sense. I was questioning myself about my existence. Why was I here? Where did I come from? Who was I?

I had to find something to do. Whilst my mind sat around idly, strange thoughts ridiculed my train of thought. This was a new found weakness that I was going to have to overcome. Krad-sama and Kei-sama did not need me with a strayed mind. I needed to make myself stronger.

Seeing that Satoshi wasn't going to rise soon, I left through the window and climbed down the ivy that had rooted itself to the walls. Outside it was quiet and cool so I found myself a little spot under a tree to train. Exercise would clear my mind and hopefully rid myself of these plague thoughts.

After a while I had worked myself into a sweat and I sat myself down to rest. I settled against one of the large trees and breathed in and out slowly. My mind was once again clear and undeterred. I remained there for a while, feeling content from the cool breeze that gradually cooled my hot blood. I decided to meditate, just to make sure that I really was free. I made myself comfortable and closed my eyes, searching within myself and soon the sounds of the world around me were no louder than a whisper. My mind was soon like a black void, devoid of sound, sight or touch.

I frowned slightly even though my eyes were closed. There was something there in the darkness. Of all the times I had meditated this had not happened before. Was I not concentrating enough?

I tried again to focus on nothing but the tiny speck that interrupted the dark peace I had created remained persistently undeterred. I approached it warily. Since this is my mind, perhaps it was showing me the source of my anxiety.

Once the object was within my reach, I looked at it disappointingly. It was a shell or what was left of one. I picked it up and inspected it. It was smooth and curved like a porcelain dish with one edge jagged and sharp where it was broken. Strangely, although there was no source of light, the shell shone in vibrant rainbows as I turned it.

'I want it out…'

I spun around defensively, searching for the owner of the softly spoken voice. In my sudden flurry I had dropped the shell and once I had confirmed that there was no one there, I turned to pick it up again. However I froze when I saw something else with it.

Blood. All along the jagged edge and the unseen ground beneath it, was soaked in blood.

I wasn't afraid of blood, but my thoughts were reeling at what it was doing there in the first place. How did it get there? Whose was it? I quickly checked myself for injuries. It wasn't mine.

'I want it out.'

My head snapped up to see Max, standing no more than five feet away and bleeding. Rivulets of blood were flowing down from her wrist and I could see the large gash from which the blood flowed. I stared at her shocked. Was she trying to commit suicide?

'I…I just wanted it out,' she said apologetically.

'What?' I asked. I didn't understand.

'The chip.'

I looked at her confused. What was she talking about? Why was she looking at me like a scolded child? Heck, why was she even in my head?!

'Fang?'

I looked behind me and saw the smallest one of the flock Angel. I looked at Max again, but she had disappeared.

'Fang? Are you ok?' Angel asked timidly.

There was again, Fang this Fang that. Even Satoshi called me Fang for a while before I repeatedly corrected him. What was really getting on my nerves was that these people kept treating him like he was someone else.

'Yes, why wouldn't I be?' I ground out.

'Well, Ari got you pretty good. We were all worried about you.'

'Who's Ari?'

The small girl's golden curls bounced as she laughed, apparently she found the question quite funny.

'Oh you're terrible Fang.'

'Hey Fnick!'

I was suddenly spun around by an arm hooking itself around my neck and I came face to face with the blind one, Iggy.

'Finally out of hospital, how was the food? Was the décor to your tastes?' he laughed.

I unwound the arm from my neck and sprung back, ready to fight.

'Geez, you're so uptight. Did they give you a colonoscopy while you were under?'

'You're not going to fight?'

'Hah hah, very funny Fnick. I don't fight cripples,' he grinned.

'Hey!'

I was suddenly pushed from behind and I fell forwards. Once I regained my balance I turned to see a mess of blonde hair and a cheeky smile.

'Your it!' He yelled before running off.

I chased him. I had had enough. Once I caught him I was going to demand answers. But he suddenly disappeared…

…And I had somehow got trapped in some sort of cage.

Peering through the mesh of wiring that made the door, I found myself in an unfamiliar place. I could only assume it was some kind of storeroom as all I could see was the corridor which my cage was facing and many spaced out shelves which held many cages similar to mine. They were all pet crates.

There was a mighty clang of a metal door opening and someone walked inside. I couldn't see the face but it was a man wearing a white coat and for some reason, the sight sent a chill down my spine.

The man stopped in front of my cage and grinned with a canine smile.

'Hey, piggy piggy.'

To my horror the man's face suddenly contorted and began to morph into what I could only describe as a wolf. Hair erupted from his skin, on his face, his hands and other places I'm sure hair shouldn't be.

He grabbed my cage and flung it off the shelf, knocking down other cages along with me. My door miraculously opened and I scrambled out of the choking confined space and ran as fast as I could.

But as soon as I passed the gap that made the doorway, I tripped. I don't know what the heck I stepped on but I suddenly found myself crying.

'There there, Fang,' a gentle voice said.

I looked around and saw I was no longer in…wherever it was, with no sign of the monster that I was running from. I had fallen into a house, or more accurately a house's kitchen. It was when I was in the arms of kind faced man that I realised that I was in the body of a 9 year old.

'There we go, stop those tears. Gassy don't you have something to say?'

'Sorweee,' said the four year old Gasman.

He was sitting on the floor close to where I had fallen and was trying to fix the wheel back on the toy car that I stepped on.

'Jeb! Jeb! Angel's dunna big one!' squealed a small version of Max.

She came running up to the man who held me, holding what I assumed to be a happily gurgling baby Angel at arms length. Max's face was pouting in disgust. It was funny, so I laughed.

'What's so funny crybaby!'

'That's enough you two,' Jeb put me down and took Angel out of Max's offering arms, 'you guys go outside and I'll teach you more fighting moves after I've changed Angel.'

'Yay fighting moves! Last one out is dog food!'

Excited by her challenge, I quickly rushed to get outside before her.

Once we were outside we began to fight. As the fight went on she became faster and stronger. There was hardly any diversity between the time we were on the ground and suddenly flying in the air, beating our winds ferociously and maneuvering in and out to gain a hit. It was when I finally got a hold of her and accidentally dislocated her arm that I realised we were no longer children but at the beginnings of adolescence.

Now the growth of strength made sense.

Max cried and ran inside. I didn't apologise, but neither did I gloat. She knew I never meant to hurt her.

I went inside after her and I got a very strange feeling. For no sooner had I stepped through the door, I felt incredibly sad.

The flock were huddled together in the living room and they were all crying. Max raised her tear streaked face and beckoned me over, I too joined the huddle, giving and taking comfort.

Jeb was gone.

My surroundings suddenly blurred and the arms that were embracing me disappeared. I was drowning in a whirlpool of colour and my sadness was instantly forgotten. Solid looking objects flew past my face and soon the world stopped spinning. The objects were hawks.

And what beautiful birds they were. They flew with grace and pride. Their backs and wings held a golden sheen in the sunlight and they didn't seem to mind the big clumsy ugly avian hybrids flying among them.

As we watched them, we gained a better understanding of the unnatural appendages on our backs. We found feathers that we didn't know we could move, we learnt how to angle our bodies and wings so we could turn in the air with almost no effort. It was exhilarating.

Glancing at the flock, they all had huge smiles on their faces and I felt an uncontrollable swell of happiness when Max directed her smile at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

The sky became dark. I have no idea how we suddenly transferred from the air to the inside of a van but, then again nothing was making sense to me anymore. Max was behind the wheel and judging by her expression, she had no idea what she was doing. Despite that, she seemed to be aiming for every bump and dip in the road as we were almost thrown off our seats for the umpteenth time.

'Okay, okay, we're doing okay. I mean, it's not as good as flying, but it beats the heck out of walking,' she forced a smile at me, 'What?'

'Could you take it easy on the hairpin turns?'

I have no idea what possessed me to say that.

'I'm getting better,' she argued, 'I just had to practice.'

'I didn't know a van could go up on two wheels like that, and for so long!' said Nudge somewhere behind me.

'I don't want to barf in a borrowed car,' said Gassy.

I instinctively closed my eyes when we rammed into something at 60mph. When everything had stopped moving and sickening crunch of metal ceased did I dare reopen my eyes. Blood was gushing out of Max's nose like a tap from the impact of the airbag, but other than that she seemed fine. I felt like half my face had been sawn off with sandpaper but a quick check confirmed that it was _still_ there. Max checked on everyone else and they seemed fine.

The windows on all sides shattered and imploded and fear gripped me when I saw the distinctive human wolf muzzle poke its way into the van.

Suddenly everything except the van seemed to disappear and I began to panic when the walls began to shrink and collapse. I couldn't escape and I thought it was the end until the walls finally stopped and I found myself alone in a dog crate.

The fear hadn't left me and my mind was remembering what had happened the last time I was in here. It was the same place too, only this time there were some slight differences. All the crates, which were empty the last time, were full of children, animals and things I would rather not describe. And in some of them were the flock.

On the opposite shelf I could see Max and Angel with their crates side by side. They had slipped their fingers through the wire meshed doors, reaching for each other.

It was like déjà vu all over again. There was a metallic clang of a door opening and not one but three white coats walked through, along with a couple of young men who looked like models. We weren't fooled. We knew they were Erasers.

Our crates were stacked on top of each other on a large trolley and we were pushed out of the building. I saw one of the erasers reaching his transformed fingers into one of the cages, taunting and grinning. Suddenly he howled in pain and began banging and punching the crate to free his trapped digits from Max's teeth.

The crates toppled. We acted fast to unlock our cages and we were flying again.

There must have been a time leap or something because the ground below was about 2000ft and covered in lights.

We were in New York.

Ok, we were in the Big Apple…why?

I had no time to ponder over my own question as we were sucked into a worm hole. Hang on, my mistake, it's a subway…and we were walking beside the tracks instead of taking a train. Life doesn't seem to get boring around this lot.

The reason why we were walking down the tunnel became clear as a rectangular hole came into our sights. Inside was full of homeless, orphans, runaways and tramps. I wonder which category we come under, I thought sarcastically.

We found a place to rest and I took first watch. I was supposed to be watching for dangers, but I found myself watching Max instead. Her steady breathing, her stern, not completely relaxed expression, the fluttering of her eyelids as she dreamed…it was like I was entranced. However soon she began to squirm and clutched her head in obvious pain. I called to her, grasped her shoulders and shook her and she finally opened her eyes. However the pain she was in hadn't stopped.

'Who's screwing with my Mac?! What's the deal? Who's Max? How are you doing this?'

Both Max and I stared at the geek shouting at us.

'We're not doing _anything_' I gritted out.

Suddenly the screen of his Mac flashed and the words 'Institute for higher living' popped up.

The kid began to back away.

'Who sent you?' he asked, voice rising, 'Who are you? Leave me alone! Just stay away!'

I made a calming gesture but the kid had high tailed it out of there.

'It's always refreshing to meet someone crazier than us,' Max said, 'We seem so normal, afterward.'

'_We_?' I shot back.

Next thing I knew, we were on the beach. It was evening, the sun was low in the sky and the sands that stretched either side of us were empty. The flock weren't there either, it was just me…and a bleeding Max in my arms. Looking down, I had my hands firmly wrapped around Max's wrists, one was putting pressure on the wound and the other was restraining her from doing anymore damage. In her hand was a jagged and bloody piece of shell. The very same one I saw earlier.

I yelled at her, demanding why she was doing this to herself. I was livid.

'I wanted it out,' Max whimpered, 'I wanted to be free of it. I want this chip out!'

I held her close and let her cry into my chest. What if I wasn't there? What would have happened?

The sky suddenly became dark and everywhere became pitch black. I held Max closer, afraid that this new scene would make her disappear but thankfully she didn't. I felt a hand on my chest and it pushed against me. I pulled back to see what Max wanted. The sight made me freeze in horror.

Blood.

She was covered in it. Her hair, wings, clothes and skin were mattered with red. Her hand curled into a fist on my chest, taking a handful of material.

'Fang,' she barely breathed, 'why…why did you leave us…to die?'

My eyes widened. What was she talking about? I'm here, I'm with her…I'll _always_ be with her.

Max collapsed in my arms and then her body became unnaturally light. She changed into feathers and scattered away on an unseen wind like dry sand.

'MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAX!'

I was cold. Scratch that, I was freezing. I had a cold sweat breaking all over my skin and I was shivering uncontrollably. The only warmth I felt was from the salty tears that had leaked from my eyes.

My voice was still echoing Max's name in the misty landscape and ringing in my head. It had felt real, so damn real that I doubt most of that was a dream at all. Memories? That would explain a lot but…why did I forget.

I groaned and clutched my head when the pain of a splitting headache finally fought through my shock and began using my skull as a venue for a rock concert.

That feeling had come back again and it was like I no longer had control of myself. My wings were itching to fly and something was telling me to go south.

Next thing I knew, I was on my feet and my wings were spread. They began to beat, not strong enough to take off but to start warming my blood. No doubt it will get colder the higher I fly. Once the feeling had returned to my fingers and toes, my legs bent automatically and sprung into the air.

An exhilarating feeling came over me. No one could stop me, I could fly as high and far as I wanted and no one would be able to stop me. With Krad still tied up it was possible. Is this what freedom feels like?

My wings angled themselves and I watched as the world just passed by below me. It was beautiful. The patchwork of greens and browns that covered the land and then the vast periwinkle blue that lapped up against it. I tried to turn so I could go further inland, but found myself unable to.

Then I realised…I was not yet free. At the moment I had no control on the direction I was flying and I knew exactly who was pulling the strings.

Maximum Ride.

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**Kyyya! I loved writing this chapter. I just thought, what could Fang reminisce about?…when he was a chibi! Just imagine all of the chibi flock playing together. I should draw a picture of it. Review plz or I'll set Kiba on you!!!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Geez, seems forever since I've updated on this. This chapie was really hard for me to write, but I think its good. Read and Review**

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That's it! I've made a decision. I don't like Europe.

No seriously, I have no offence against the culture or the people, but why can't they all speak the same flipping language!

Me and my flock have finally arrived at our dreaded destination, but we have yet to find the exact spot where our unsuspected enemy may be hiding. Not knowing Italian doesn't help. Of course we had enough common sense to know that the sign on the gate we passed says, 'Warning. Mutant Avian Hybrids will be shot.'

'Have you found it yet?' asked an impatient Iggy.

'Nope.'

Oh yeah, let me fill you in on what's been going on. Following the instructions laid out by yours featherly, we flew south and further inland, which pretty much led us to the other side of the country. So after a quick rest on top of the leaning Tower of Pisa and cutting out the bellyaching from not being allowed to go inside it, we took off once again heading south.

By then my helpful and all knowing voice gives me some advice to where the heck we're actually going. And for those who have lazily skipped the last 20 chapters or so, here's some news for you. I have a voice in my head. It is not mine but don't misunderstand, I'm _not_ crazy. And your probably thinking that's what they all say, but trust me on this.

So anyway, have a guess to where we are now.

Here's a clue, where in Italy would you find lots of places to hide an evil secret organisation in plain sight and can cut off public access whenever they like?

Did I hear Rome shouted out at the back? Congratulations! You won nothing but my compliments.

'Haven't we passed this column before?' inquired Gassy.

'No,' I lied.

'We're lost aren't we?' said Iggy rhetorically.

'Cool! Look at that!'

We all looked up at Nudges call and down the road she was pointing to. At the end, it joined to another road and in the space beyond was a wide river with a grand bridge stretching across it. It would seem that the bridge was the only way to access the building behind it…at least it was for the flightless kind of Homo sapiens.

It looked a bit like a sand castle. It had a circular base with a square box plunked on top and to finish it off they've stuck a huge statue of an Angel drawing his sword.

The building (sand castle) was fully lit with spot lights which silhouetted the many Angel statues that lined the bridge. Gassy, Nudge and Angel were currently gawking at one. Now this I don't get, why are they so interested in a lifeless stone figurine with wings when they are the real deal?

'_Castel Sant Angelo'_

Eh?

'_The building is the Castel Sant' Angelo, the church of the Illuminati'_

Church of the Illumi-whaty? What is that and why is that relevant?

'_When the church was in control they didn't want science to prove things that went against the church's dogma, so scientists came together to form the Illuminati, a secret __organisation__ that believed solely in scientific facts. According to Dan Brown's novel Angel and Demons, the Castel Sant' Angelo was their base.'_

So are you trying to tell me that the place that was the base for some old fogy scientists who wanted to prove the world was round centuries ago is now the base for the old fogy evil scientists that are trying to destroy it?

No response. So that had to mean I got it right. However I didn't like how the voice said 'According to Dan Brown.' It feels like it was only relying on a novel for information, and a fiction novel at that.

Nevertheless, the voice had't steered me wrong yet so…

'Guys! We're going inside!'

'Really? Cool!' exclaimed Gassy.

'I've never been inside a cathedral before,' said Nudge excitedly.

'It's a castle, the Castel Sant' Angelo,' I corrected, copying my voice's pronunciation.

The looks my flock gave me made me feel like I'd grown an extra head.

'What?'

'Since when did you know the names of Venetian buildings?' asked Iggy bemusedly.

It was my turn to give him a look.

'I'm staring at you as if you're crazy,' I told him and he just rolled his eyes.

'Rome is also known as the Venetian City.' He explained.

'And you would know that how?'

'Hey, I do have other interests other than lock picking and bomb making,' he huffed defensively.

So our Iggy had become a historian. Fancy that.

I looked at the (sand-) Castle again and frowned.

'Oi, Professor Griffiths, since you're so _educated_ in this particular theme, do you have any ideas how we could get inside undetected?

He cocked an eyebrow in question, so I explained that the place was lit up like a florescent beacon and most likely had guards with guns pacing around.

'Simple,' he said, 'a secret entrance.'

He made it sound so easy didn't he?

I tried my best to calm my nerves as we slowly walked along a long, dark, narrow passageway. I think I underestimated it when I said dark, its pitch black down here. And when I say narrow, this time I'm over exaggerating, to me it felt so suffocatingly tight that it's taking all of my will power not to turn around and take off into the nice open sky. The fact that we can't see a thing, even with our raptor vision, doesn't help in the slightest.

Of course it didn't make any difference to our very own Professor Griffiths because he's blinder than a new born kitten. He confidently took the lead, pretending to know where he's going and as far as I know, we're completely lost in an underground maze that we happened to stumble upon, and I mean that literally.

We had left the bridge to settle somewhere and come up with a plan. However Gassy became restless after an hour and a half of doing nothing and plan: Infiltrate Giant Sandcastle was not going well. So whilst me and Iggy were trying to come up with plan H, Gassy began wandering around and kicking loose stones. An innocent little thing to pass the time no? Not when it was being done by a genetically modified nine year old with super human strength. The wall which Gassy's stones were aimed began to develop chicken pox as chips and chunks of wall crumpled under the impact of his kicks. It was rather noisy as well so I turned to tell him to knock it off and part of the wall collapsed. Behold! There was a secret passage behind it. Inside the entrance Iggy found some symbols and began explaining excitedly that they were related to the Illumi-farty or whatever. How lucky was that?

Not very. We have _no_ escape route in a confined space which is the last place us claustrophobics want to be, we have _no_ idea when this place was last used so the likeliness of a cave-in was hanging over our heads (get it, hanging over our…never mind) and most importantly and un-ignorably, we have _no_ Fang.

* * *

The evening breeze dipped drastically in temperature as time wore on. Kiba swore that some of his primary feathers had frozen stiff, or that could be his fatigue and cramped muscles. He groaned in agony as his wings arched and bowed to keep him aloft, he wasn't sure how long he had been flying but he didn't really care. He just hoped that his wings would allow him to land before they fell off.

Above and around him the clouds were stained pink by the descending sun, and below, the ground was lit with a million candles. The city stretched far and wide and due to the fading light, Kiba couldn't identify any familiar landmarks.

Finally, he felt himself descend. As the ground rose, he felt his instincts forcing him to circle around a brightly lit building. It was large and had stone angels littered all over it. He landed on the roof and collapsed, not even having the strength to break his fall. It was now, when he wasn't constantly fighting his instincts, that he noticed how excruciatingly hungry he was.

He lay there unmoving, too exhausted to move. His arms were squished beneath him and his wing had bent into an uncomfortable position but the pain from either didn't compare to the pain from his stomach. It was enough to make him feel sick.

He must have passed out whilst he had lain there. The sky was now competing with the colour of Kiba's eyes with a few pinpricks of stars and a pale crescent moon smiling down upon him. It was now exceedingly cold.

Kiba tried moving something but he wasn't quite sure what he had moved. He heard the distinctive scrape of material against the roof but he couldn't feel it. He forced himself to sit up, untwist his wing and waited. A few choice swear words and curses flew smoothly from his lips as an experience one could describe as a million microscopically thin needles penetrating his skin over and over again.

As the pins and needles receded, Kiba cautiously moved his limbs and was rewarded with, not pain, but a tickly prickle. Kiba held his tongue between his teeth.

Finally he was free to move his limbs and the only thing he had to deal with now was a numb buttocks.

He got to his feet and began to explore the area he had crash-landed on. It looked…well, like he had landed on top of a castle tower, quite like what you would see out of a story book. The small square of roof which he stood on was surrounded by a low wall of turrets, upon one of them, was a large greenish statue of a sword welding Angel.

Looking over one side, Kiba could see a large courtyard with a semicircular building surrounding it. The doors that littered it side were dark and gaping and at either end of the building were descending stone staircases. The same could be seen on the other side of the tower. The other two sides had the roof of the building of which the tower was built upon.

Kiba used one hand to shade his eyes from the bright spot lights that illuminated the building and watched the chaos that was happening below.

Men in uniforms were running around the place, zipping in and out of the hollow circular buildings, cradling their guns and shouting orders. It was like a war zone down there.

Just as Kiba was becoming bored with the commotion that had engulfed the site, there was a small explosion. Smoke and dust began to rise somewhere on the perimeter a bit further below and no sooner had it occurred than two human shaped streaks came swooping out of it.

Kiba ducked down quickly, immediately recognising the inseparable pair. Gassy was flying a bit awkwardly after accidentally inhaling a lungful of smoke and was having a hard time keeping his wings beating with his coughing fit. Luckily for him he had his reliable and slightly smarter than to breathe when setting off a bomb partner to support him.

Kiba silently watched them as they swooped over the terrified soldiers, laughing at their fear of them and dive-bombing at them to make some trip over themselves to escape. It seemed none even thought about using their guns against them. They probably believe they'd be damned if they even thought about shooting an Angel, Kiba pondered, momentarily glancing at the Angel statue. Looks like this place is full of religious idiots.

Once Gassy and Iggy had run out of people to chase, they gradually gained height and flew overhead, not noticing Kiba's unblinking gaze hidden in the shadows.

They landed on one of the roofs extending from the tower and collapsed in a heap of laughter.

'Did you see their faces? Priceless!' heaved a breathless Gassy.

'Err, no, of course not you dimwit, but I heard them. They kept chanting "Dio abbia pietà, Dio abbia pietà." Hey, we just had some interactive learning, we now know what "save me" in Italian is,' Iggy laughed.

'Oh no here comes Max! Dio abbia pietà!'

'Dio abbia pietà…'

Iggy's eyes widened as the sound waves registered to his brain. The deep vibrations of the voice seemed to echo in his head and penetrate him like a cold knife. The two boys didn't have time to react before both received blows to the heads. Gassy immediately blacked out but Iggy fought to keep in the balance of consciousness. The knock had confused his senses and his limbs weren't synchronising with his brain. He was helpless and he knew it. He briefly felt warm fingers on his neck but couldn't react before his vital point was hit and he too, lost grip on reality.

'…means, God have mercy.'

Kiba looked down on the two motionless boys impassively and knew that somewhere, the wench, the thorn in his side Max was nearby.

'Non oggi.'

_Not today._

* * *

I dived down another hallway. Was there no end to this place?! After finally getting out of that damn labyrinth we just enter another one. Great.

Of course since we're just innocent little magnets for trouble, trouble came swiftly and unshakably like a crayon stuck up your nose with super glue. And thanks to the boys' unhelpful attempt to find an exit, as in make one yourself, we've now been split up. Although I have to admit that the huge commotion they set of did come as a very useful diversion, I hadn't met anyone for several twists and turns.

Just as I was coming to the end of a corridor an armed man walked casually from the right and then stared at me in shock. Me and my big imaginary mouth! I gave him a swift round kick to the head which should give him a headache that will last a few days…when he wakes up.

Taking the direction the man had just come from, I sprinted down and thanked my lucky stars that I found a staircase. Downside was…well, it went down. Hearing footsteps, and a lot of them, I had no choice but to go with the option in front of me. The stairs spiraled as I went down and at the bottom was a wide open chamber that was dimly lit by a couple of thin glassless windows. Geez, I wonder what the heating costs to run this place.

Unfortunately I had no time to catch my breath as I could hear voices and footfalls coming down the stairs. I rushed to the passage at the side of the chamber and ignored my claustrophobic senses caused by the tight curving walls. They soon opened up again into another open chamber not too different from the one I had left and I had a feeling that if I just kept going, I'd be running in a circle. I made a quick scan around me, searching for possible exits to find none. Not even Angel could fit through those tiny windows, speaking of which, I hoped she was safe. I gave a quick prayer for my flock's safety and quickly slipped into the only hiding spot there was; shadows.

Now I had the freedom and space to fight and I tensed up, ready for a surprise attack. I would have to be careful though. Although I'm super smart, super tough and super in every way possible, not to mention that I can make a seriously fabulous batch of chocolate chip cookies, I was not bulletproof.

Suddenly I had an idea that had me mentally hitting myself for not thinking of it in the first place. I quickly whipped out my wings and jumped 7ft into the air, my heart pounded with adrenaline to get myself as high as possible before my pursuers arrived. I hovered and waited.

My theory of going in a circle must have been right because shortly after I placed myself near the ceiling, soldiers came streaming in from both passages. Confusion erupted amongst them and they began searching the shadows and possible hiding places. I sniggered silently as they scratched their heads and double checked their efforts.

They finally confirmed at some point that I definitely wasn't there and gradually dispersed until they had all left. I came in to land and gave my wings a rub, holding yourself in midair is like holding your arms straight with a bucket of water in each hand, after while it really begins to hurt. Oh well, hiding in their blind spot paid off, I was uninjured, still full of energy and ready to take on the Big Boss.

Max 1, Evil scientist bogeymen 0. Ooyah!

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise and I froze in mid-rub. My senses were on full alert and I felt warmth where there should not be warmth breezing on my skin. I heard a small, almost silent intake of air and I felt eyes staring into the back of my head.

I thought I was alone…but obviously not.

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**Phew, I wonder who else is in there with Max...well of course I know but you don't lol. I hope nobody minds me taking a little inspiration from Angels and Demons and nobody took offense to Kida's 'religious idiots' comment. I don't actually know Italian, I took it off a translator so if anybody does know and can see any flaws, plz let me know :) Hoped you enjoyed it, plz review.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey all, long time no see. I know it's been absolutely ages since I've made an update on this story but I hope you still have the enthusiasm to read it. I've had a few problems with my computer as in a virus attacked it and deleted some of my chapters including this one, so I've had to re-write it all over again grrrrrr. Urm, I've been having a few reviews complaining about the yaoi in this story, I apologise to those who are offended by such content and I have put up a warning for current and future readers, but I'm not about to change Daisuke's sexual preferences when I'm already over half way through. Also I have already stated that there is a Dai/Dark relationship in the summary, if you don't like it then don't read it or skip the bits you don't like. I thank the readers who have already done that and continued reading :)**

**Putting that aside, please read and review.**

* * *

I kept my body in the shadows and watched her descend like an Angel, her mighty wings beat rhythmically as she spiraled down slowly, keeping a safe distance from the walls. Her golden hair billowed behind her like a ferocious flame, beautiful but deadly, just like her.

The corners of her lips were turned up in a pleased smile and her eyes were focused on the ground below her. Her guard was down.

Once she touched the ground, she stretched and rubbed her wings. That's when I decided to strike. I couldn't help but smile as I snuck up right behind her and I had a sudden feeling as though I'd done this a dozen times before. I hesitated at the familiarity and that was a big mistake.

Max froze in her movements and her entire body tensed up. She reacted immediately, blindly swinging her arm behind her and I barely managed to avoid it. She ran forwards and turned to face her foe, namely me.

She looked surprised at first, before straightening and frowning in confusion. She had her guard down again and this time I wasn't sure why. Was she trying to trick me into attacking?

'What are you doing here?' She blurted.

'That's what I'd like to know,' I replied.

I began to circle her, but she didn't move, like she wasn't threatened by me at all and that annoyed me greatly.

'What?'

'You're like a devious little spider that weaves an intricate web, unseen, unfelt yet it still keeps a hold on you no matter how much you struggle.'

She seemed bewildered by my words and she pulled a face.

'Since when were you a poet, and what the heck are you talking about?'

'What do you think it means?' I asked her.

'That you've completely lost it?'

I could feel the anger rising in my chest and I forcefully held it down. Getting angry would only give her an advantage and I was pretty sure that she would wield that witty tongue to push me further.

I continued to circle her, keeping my face passive so she couldn't see my reaction and tried to think of a way to fight back. Although her body was lax, her eyes followed me like a hawk and she moved herself accordingly so I couldn't get behind her. She spoke before I could think of something.

'Is Krad here as well?' she asked darkly.

My lips quirked into a smile, 'Yes,' I lied, 'and he already has your two brothers in his custody.'

Max's mouth tightened to a thin line and I took pride in the fact that my words affected her so, perhaps now I had a chance of getting an opening.

'Little Nudge and Angel will be next,' I pushed.

She snapped.

* * *

Nudge darted along the stone corridors fearfully, trying to avoid touching the history filled walls. Bad things had happened down here and she had discovered just how bad when she stopped for breath, resting a hand against the wall.

Small electric lights lined the ceiling and illuminated the narrow passages. They had replaced the flamed torches that once burned in the holders embedded in the stone. Nudge had seen them, and she liked the electric lighting much better.

Nudge once again stopped to rest and listened intently for any pursuers. All was quiet and she let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly Nudge's world turned upside down as the floor beneath her feet suddenly dropped. It was a trapdoor. Nudge screamed as she fell, the tube that was guiding her further underground gave her no room to fly and no chance to escape before the trapdoor closed shut.

Nudge had no idea how far she had fallen before the tube finally ended and expelled her out like a water from a drain. She had tried fruitlessly to slow herself down before she exited but the sides of the tube was lined with something wet and slimy and it gave no grip what so ever and made her fall even faster.

She slammed against glass, but it surprisingly didn't break from her impact. Instead it reverberated along her entire body and she heard some bones snap. Pain exploded from her collar and ribs and she barely registered that she had collapsed on a modern concrete floor. Tears sprang to her eyes and her vision was clouded by white lights, but despite her blindness, she could clearly see the fate of others who had fallen before her and they hadn't been so lucky. That tube was a death trap.

Nudge's vision soon cleared and through the glass she could see the stunned looks of scientists paused in their work. Not by the fact that they'd been interrupted, but by the fact she was still alive. The large piece of glass was almost the size of a small cinema screen, it was clear that the glass was a viewing window.

Nudge was fueled by hot red anger. The sick bastards. She rolled over and gasped as pain spread along her chest. She ignored it best she could and fought to get on her feet.

Just next to the tube exit was a single door. Nudge stumbled over to it and pushed the handle down. It was thankfully open.

Unseen to her, the scientists hastily shouted orders into their phones and began collecting their equipment and results. The huge brightly lit lab with its hygienically white walls was soon turned into a danger zone as the security system kicked in, throwing the area into a dark red light. Alarms began to sound and the scientists made for their emergency exits.

* * *

Angel jumped in shock as an alarm suddenly blared. She held on tighter to her unconscious brother and unwittingly looked around for the alarm source.

She had never been so frightened in her entire life. She had very narrowly evaded her pursuers and thankfully managed to find a way out. Taking off into the air, she flew out of sight and out of reach on top of the tower. It was when she checked for her pursuers did she notice the two sprawled out bodies of her brother and Iggy on the roof below.

Suddenly unconcerned for herself, she jumped of the tower and glided towards them. Simultaneously reaching out with her telepathic abilities to check their vital signs. She cried in relief when she found their mental waves still present but just dormant in their unconscious state. She rolled them onto their backs to make them more comfortable and checked for signs of injury. Finding none, she held onto her brother for her own comfort.

Now she wasn't sure what to do. The roof was probably the safest place to be so she hopefully didn't have to worry too much about an ambush, but should she stay here and keep the boys warm or should she look for Max?

Common sense was rooting her to the spot, she was safe here and in the best possible place to spot enemies before they spotted her, but despite this, she also couldn't stop shaking in fear and cold.

The cold was what scared her.

Judging by the deep unconsciousness that embraced both her brother and Iggy, they would still be out for quite a while and Angel could see their lips turning blue.

Even if Angel did find somewhere safe and warm, there was no way she was going to be able to carry them and be able to protect both herself and them at the same time. If she were Max it'd be no problem but she was proportionally smaller and didn't have the physical strength or the mental will.

Her best bet was to find Max or...

...Could she possibly bring them back from unconsciousness herself? It couldn't hurt to try...could it?

She didn't usually pry into the minds of those who were sleeping, usually because it was boring or she might accidentally fall into somebody's dream or nightmare. She did that once with Gassy when he just wouldn't stop tossing and turning and he wouldn't wake up no matter how much she shook him. So she tried waking him up through mental means and found herself sucked into his nightmare. He had completely forgotten about it the next morning, but she sure hadn't.

Angel rubbed her arms feverishly as she tried to make up her mind. Goosebumps covered her skin despite her thick jumper and she held her wings close, trying to trap some warmth around her. Taking a deep breath, Angel placed a hand on Gassy's forehead.

She was home.

Angel stared at the room around her and felt her heart contract with happiness and despair. It was the room she and Nudge shared in their home in the mountains...the one they can never go back to. Even though Angel knew it wasn't real and it was an illusion created by Gassy's imagination, the shear familiarity of safety and peace brought back happy memories of them staying here like a family. She was pretty sure that if anyone was able to pry into her unconscious mind, this would be what they'd find as well.

She lifted herself off her bed and looked out the room, the hallways were as she remembered with a wooden floor and plain white walls covered in crayon drawings that they drew on when they were kids. They always got scolded by Jeb for doing that, but he never tried to clean them off nor did he tell them to. Angel allowed herself a small smile as she observed the various winged stick men and women standing together, flying and playing pranks on each other. Her smile grew as her eyes landed on a particular picture of a stick Max which had been overly coloured in makeup and wore a very frilly tutu-like dress. Fang had drawn this one as a joke and as soon as Max saw it she grabbed the nearest crayon and scribbled it out, declaring she'd never be seen dead or alive like that.

Angel moved down the hallway and stopped in front of the only door that was closed. Gassy's room. She gently turned the handle and easily pushed the door open. Inside, the floor was covered in his old toys and kids chemical science kits, war and artillery magazines were stacked in messy piles near his bed and seemingly all his clothes were aimlessly piled on the only chair in the room.

Gassy had stolen sheets and pillows that he used to turn his bed into some kind of den, tying the sheets from the head and tail boards as an overhanging roof and stacking the pillows like sandbags to make a wall on the outer side of his bed. Angel noticed that some of the pillows seemed to have been swiped from peoples beds. The pink covered ones she identified as Nudge's and she could just see the design of Max's Mickey Mouse pillow buried under the third layer of cushions. So thats where it went, Angel thought bemusedly, remembering how upset Max had been when it went missing in the wash.

Sleeping soundly with the duvet halfway down the bed was Gassy. He lay on his back with his limbs sprawled and Angel wrinkled her nose in disgust at just how wide he had his mouth open whilst he slept. Soft snores were being emitted and a bit of drool had dribbled from the corner of his mouth.

Angel rolled her eyes at him. Taking a trick she learnt off watching The Simpsons, she pushed his chin to close his mouth and then used her other hand to pinch his nose. No more than two seconds later, his eyes shot open and began flailing his arms. Angel instantly let go and allowed him to sit up and take deep breaths.

'What the hell was that for?' he asked her accusingly.

The moment he had fully awakened Angel had noticed that the air had begun to cool. It was now giving her mental entity goosebumps.

'Gassy you need to wake up.'

'I am up, you just woke me,' he pouted, 'Is it me or is it freezing in here.'

'No, Gassy you're still asleep. Look at where we are.'

Gassy took an annoyed look round.

'I'm in my room, so what?'

Angel gave an exasperated sigh.

'We left home 7 months ago. You're dreaming!'

'No, I was dreaming before you tried to suffocate me,' he replied back defiantly.

Angel was becoming more and more agitated at Gassy's persistence to stay asleep. It wasn't really his fault though, trying to wake up from a dream that seemed so real that you thought you were awake is rather hard. Angel did the only thing left she could do, since she had awakened him from unconsciousness, all that was left to do was wake him from subconsciousness. She left his mind and shivered a little at the cold. She then did exactly as she had done in his mind, blocked his airways until he spluttered awake.

'Not again!' he whined.

Gassy then muttered a stream of curses as he realised just how cold he was. If Max was here he would have earned an earful for his colourful language. He wrapped his arms around himself and began jogging on the spot. He watched as his sister walked hurriedly over to Iggy and placed a hand on his head.

After fifteen minutes, they still hadn't moved and Gassy was beginning to worry. His worry was short lived as Angel suddenly gasped and made a chilled noise, rubbing her hands before performing the same wake up method on Iggy. He seemed to cough before calmly opening his eyes. He got to his feet and began similar activities as Gassy to keep warm.

'You were awfully calm for someone who just got suffocated in his sleep,' Gassy had to comment.

'Well she told me she was going to do it,' he replied simply.

'Why the heck didn't I get any warning! I'm your brother!' he directed at her.

She just shrugged and continued rubbing her arms.

'We should look for Max,' she said.

'And go somewhere warm while we're at it,' Iggy added.

The three of them jumped off the roof and spread their wings to parachute their descent. Landing rather stiffly, they walked, or slightly limped into the building.

* * *

Why'd he have to come here? Why why why?

I let loose another round kick and felt disappointed when it struck nothing. Fang, or rather Kiba was dodging in and out, defending and attacking just as much as I was and neither of us were at an advantage. We were too evenly matched. It also seemed that he hadn't brought a weapon this time and that confused me slightly. Last time he truly intended to kill me, this time he seemed...a bit lost.

I could see it in the way he was fighting. He was avoiding (human) fatal blows and was just going for it to put me in as much pain as possible, yet sometimes when we made eye contact he hesitated.

Gah! I really didn't need this right now! I was torn between knocking him unconscious, destroy Itex and sort him out later or sort him out now and destroy Itex together. At the moment the second one was the most appealing and the most possible. I was barely gaining a hit as it was so knocking him out was going to be impossible.

We met at a deadlock where we were on opposite sides of the room and we were both panting for breath. My anger had been spent and Kiba looked slightly calmer.

'Why did you follow us?' I asked casually.

He let out a forced laugh.

'I didn't.'

I frowned at him in question.

'If you didn't follow us then how'd you get here?'

'You brought me here,' he said like it was obvious.

Out of the possible answers I was expecting that certainly wasn't one of them. I was confused and it must've shown.

'Do you remember what I said earlier? About you being a spider.'

'Yeeeeah?' I drawled.

'I now think I've got it the other way round,' he smirked, 'I had no idea that you had even left, but just somehow I knew and my body suddenly took over and led me straight to you. I had no idea where I was going, I had no control to where I was going, but all I was certain of was that you'd be there at the very end of the line. And I was right. It was not you that trapped me in a web. I trapped you.'

He started taking slow steps towards me and I tensed up. I still didn't get what he was talking about and I was beginning to think he really had lost it.

'You do know how a spider hunts right? Well I just followed the thread that led to you. That means you're my prey.'

He had quickened his pace and was running at me head on. From the glimpse I saw in his eyes I saw determination and bloodlust. The only sense I could make from all this was that during the fight he had worked out something in his head that sounded right to him...but not to anyone else. I quickly jumped high to avoid him and snapped my wings out.

To my surprise he was hot on my tail and grabbed me by the ankle and swung me down. Swung, not pull. Since when did he become so strong? I tried futilely to twist my body so I could lessen the impact. The ground was coming up fast and I just managed to land on my shoulder blades instead of my neck. I heard a loud pop and my left shoulder was suddenly bathed in white hot agony. It was dislocated.

Ignoring the pain as best I could, I rolled just in time as Kiba came streaking downwards and planted his knee into the ground where my head was moments ago.

Yeowch. That has got to hurt, even if he is a mutant hybrid. My brain went into overdrive as I tried to come up with a plan. A certainty that had crossed my mind was that once Kiba had his mind set on something, he was unstoppable. Just now he had pulled out unimaginable strength (even by mutant standards) and had sped up considerably.

I had barely picked myself off the floor before I suddenly found myself slammed against the wall with my wrists pinned. The pain in my shoulder was excruciating and I had to grid my teeth to stop me from crying out. I wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction. One of my wrists was suddenly released and I felt a fist collide solidly to my cheek. I tasted blood.

Ok um, I'd rather not describe what happened next. Don't get me wrong it wasn't anything repulsive or sick, it's just theres only so much that my pride will allow me to admit to me getting my ass kicked.

There I said it, he beat the crap out of me, happy now?

I hurt everywhere. My head, my shoulders, my arms, my legs, my stomach, my wings, I'd probably be going overboard if I said I could feel the pain in every individual cell in my body, but crap! It (insert choice of swear word and make it good!) hurts!

My body slid down the wall so I was seated on the floor with the wall as my only support , if my weight was only slightly more to one side to the other I can guarantee that they'd be nothing I could do to stop myself falling over.

My body was in a pretty bad state, I had a dislocated shoulder, a few cracked ribs, I could feel the swelling of a black eye forming nicely, I had so many cuts and scrapes you would think I just stepped into a giant blunt blender and my body was turning the colour of a blue whale.

'You finished?' I barely uttered.

A trickle of blood escaped my mouth and I saw Kiba follow it with his eyes.

He was standing in the middle of the room like he was restraining himself from doing more. He was breathing heavily and I could see his body shaking even though he was clearly trying to hide it. Suddenly he collapsed to the floor, wincing. The extreme strength must've taken its toll on him.

'Is it everything you thought it'd be?' I asked emotionlessly.

He glanced my way questioningly.

'Beating me,' I clarified.

He frowned and turned away.

'I hadn't really thought about it.'

A bit more blood dribbled from my mouth as I gave a hysteric laugh. Kiba looked at me again, his expression turned angry.

'What's so funny?'

'Nothing,' I laughed, 'Absolutely nothing.'

Call me crazy but I couldn't stop laughing and that pissed him off even more. In fact I'd say he was slightly freaked.

'Do you know,' I suddenly said seriously, 'what is twice as bad as you?'

He looked at me inquisitively and I grinned.

'Double you.'

He put his head in his hands and I was off again in hysterics. It wasn't funny I knew that, but the feeling I got when I was laughing was much better than when I wasn't, plus it numbed the pain.

By the time I'd calmed down I was feeling the consequences of it, my chest and ribs caned. I coughed up some more blood and I was suddenly concerned over the condition of my innards.

'Why is it...' Kiba spoke with his hand covering his eyes, 'that you infuriate me so?'

I looked at him blankly whilst the gears in my head tried to function. His mind obviously wasn't stable. He flipped from certainty to uncertainty like a coin and that was his biggest weakness.

'I infuriate a lot of people,' I said truthfully.

He got up suddenly, his teeth were ground into a snarl and his eyes burned. He began walking briskly towards me.

'I can't stand the sight of you. Your presence kindles a hate that I can't control and I revel in the excitement I get when I fight you but despite all that...'

He grasped me by the neck and hauled me up against the wall. Ow.

'I can see the passion in your eyes when you fight. The anger, the thrill and its so beautiful that I can't bring myself to destroy it.'

His grip around my neck tightened.

'How can I...hate you...and love you at the same time?'

I was scared. The shear emotion that was wildly running free in his eyes was...well basically terrifying. Never in my life had I ever seen Fang's eyes so open, so frantic.

'Answer me. Maximum.'

I didn't want to answer. Firstly I didn't know how to answer and I was afraid what he might do if I did, but I was pushed to give one as I could see his patience level decreasing rapidly.

'Max. Call me Max.'

His lips moved like he was chewing on it and contemplating whether he should swallow or spit. I saw his eyes trail down my face, analysing me and I'm sure it wasn't a pretty sight. I could see anger start to resurface in his eyes and he took a deep breath whilst he closed them. He then did something I didn't expect him to do. He lowered his head to rest against the wall behind me and I felt a chill as I felt his warm breath tickling my shoulder.

'Stop looking at me like that,' he breathed, 'like you know me, like you trust me, like I haven't just mutilated you.'

I blinked in surprise, was that really what my face was reading?

'I can't kill you if you look at me like that.'

That struck a nerve and I felt a frog catch in my throat. I forcefully swallowed it and felt it push against Kiba's fingers. My eyes were beginning to water and I was using all my will to not let them turn into tears.

'Is that all that's holding you back?' I croaked.

I cursed my failing voice.

He lifted his head again and observed my distraught expression. He looked confused and his eyes had become frantic again. His confusion just made me angry.

'Do it,' I hissed with angry tears, 'Just do it.'

Confusion turned in shock and I felt the grip on my neck loosen.

'Why? This is what you wanted right? You wanted to kill me right? Well here's your chance!'

'Why?' he bit back.

'Because you're not him!' I wailed.

He flinched.

'You're not him,' I said quieter, 'So you might as well kill me, because I don't want to be in this world without him in it.'

I sobbed, I couldn't hold it in anymore. Kiba, my Fang's evil twin had cracked the shell of my psychological barrier and I was spilling like a flood.

'Fang,' I whispered almost like a prayer, 'why did you leave me?'

CRACK!

* * *

**Holy crap Holy crap Holy crap Holy crap...I bet thats what you're thinking isn't it lol. Well theres a nice long chapter for you, again sorry for the wait, I'm hoping to actually get this story done soon. I reread it and it feels shorter than I make it out to be...I guess from having to reread it all the time makes it seem a lot longer. Anyhoo any kind of criticism in the form of a review would be great cuz we're very near to the 100 review mark and having a second story with that many reviews would make me a very happy person indeed xx**


	28. Chapter 28

**The Fifth Horn has requested for me to write a short summery just to clarify whats been happening. I can totally understand how exciting it is when a story you like has been updated for the first time in aaaaages only to find that you've totally forgotten what happened previously. So here it is. Oh and THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PASSING THE 100 REVIEW MARK!**

**After Max and the flock were attacked by Fang, who had formed a darker identity called Kiba (I was so tempted to write Kira lol), they left to find the last base of Itex following the new information provided by Max's voice that leads them to Rome. They find a secret passage that takes them inside the Castel Sant' Angelo where they are pursued and split up. Unknown to them Kiba had followed them by unknown means and after knocking out Gassy and Iggy, he searches for Max, confronts her and somehow defeats her.**

**Last chapter:**

**'Do it,' I hissed with angry tears, 'Just do it.'**

**Confusion turned in shock and I felt the grip on my neck loosen.**

**'Why? This is what you wanted right? You wanted to kill me right? Well here's your chance!'**

**'Why?' he bit back.**

**'Because you're not him!' I wailed.**

**He flinched.**

**'You're not him,' I said quieter, 'So you might as well kill me, because I don't want to be in this world without him in it.'**

**I sobbed, I couldn't hold it in anymore. Kiba, my Fang's evil twin had cracked the shell of my psychological barrier and I was spilling like a flood.**

**'Fang,' I whispered almost like a prayer, 'why did you leave me?'**

**CRACK!**

* * *

I lifted my head to find a lean muscular arm right next to my face. I felt dust and grit trickle down my neck and my vision was filled with Kiba's dark locks.

I was confused. His hand was still grasped around my throat, but not suffocatingly so. His other hand was embedded somewhere in the wall behind me and he had bowed his head so I couldn't see his face.

'Don't say that...' I heard him utter.

In an instant it was like a switch had been flicked, his entire body tensed, his grip became choking and he was suddenly screaming in my face.

'DON'T SAY THAT!'

What the hell just happened?

* * *

She did not just say that.

She can't have.

Maximum Ride does not just give up like that.

I stared at her frantically, almost pleadingly for her to take those words back, but as I stared, every wound I had inflicted was starting to bleed profoundly, even the minor scrapes and breakages of skin. It was staining her.

All too quickly I realised that my mind was playing tricks and I blinked. The blood disappeared. My breathing had begun to increase uncontrollably and I let her go like a burning coal. I took several hasty steps back and stared at her as I realised that the bloody hallucination was too similar to the vision I had during meditation.

It had been me...I had hurt her...

I clutched my head as an agonising pain was suddenly splitting my skull apart. Something similar was tearing at my chest and I felt as though my own body was attacking me. I yelled through the pain and felt the strength in my legs leave me as I fell to the floor. So many images and memories were flashing behind my tightly closed eyes and my heart and brain were reenacting the feelings I had during them.

As they finally faded away I was left feeling empty, exhausted and as though a great weight had been removed. I could no longer deny it anymore...

I reopened my eyes to find Max hovering cautiously above me. I had somehow rolled onto my back and my hands were still clenched painfully in my hair. I removed them and winced as I examined my swelling broken hand. I shouldn't punch walls, I mentally noted.

'You ok?'

I sat up and looked up at her, who was staring at me as though I was crazy and after that little episode I don't blame her.

'Better than you,' I joked.

Her eyes widened.

'Fang?'

'No,' I replied, looking away from her.

I was Fang...yet I wasn't. I remembered everything. The school, the flock, our mission, Krad and most importantly...and in a way most annoyingly, I remembered who I was.

And that's what infuriated me the most. I wasn't me, there never was a me, I was just the manifestation of Fang's darker feelings created by Krad's magic. The feelings, I thought darkly, that Fang kept sealed away at the bottom of his heart, never to surface and threaten the only thing that he lived for. Max.

Yes, that was the dark truth. Despite Fang's overflowing love for her, deep down he despised her just as equally. She was the strong one, she was the one who always made the decisions, she was the one that everybody cared about, she was the one who was special and she was the one who made him so weak!

I was the unspoken thoughts, hatred and jealousy that Fang never wanted anyone to know about. His true self that no one would accept, Kiba.

I could literally feel the disappointment come off in waves from the winged girl and my heart clenched at the fact that I was the source of it. I shook it off, deflecting Fang's obvious feelings and let my anger consume it, regaining some stability of my own emotions.

Just because I had come to terms with the fact that I was part of Fang, it didn't mean I was going to surrender my control to him just yet.

'So...' Max said, breaking the awkward silence, 'What just happened?'

I looked at her and immediately looked away again. My heart was beating rapidly and painfully from just glancing at her. I growled and once again let my anger replace the stimulant of my beating heart.

She was the catalyst to my downfall. How ironic.

She must have took my turning away as a sign that I wasn't talking because she sighed exasperatedly.

I heard her shuffle back to the wall and take a sharp intake of breath as she sat down. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her wince and then turn to the side to spit out some blood. I was forcing myself not to react and tried to think rationally of what to do.

I couldn't kill her now. Fang's feelings had developed a too strong a grip on me for me to do that. I couldn't just leave her here either, despite my pride shooting sky high because I defeated her, I was also fighting against Fang's guilt from hurting her to this extent. This meant that I was going to have to help her before I could bring myself to leave. Dammit.

I got up from my position on the floor and walked towards her, keeping my line of sight solely on the wall above her head. Looking at her directly was definitely bad.

Her head shot up in surprise and I barely gave her time to think as I grabbed her shoulder and yanked her arm hard. She yelped and her eyes and mouth were still wide open as I let her relocated appendage drop.

'Anything else dislocated?' I asked the wall.

'Oooow,' she shook her head.

'Excellent.'

I stilled and cocked my head. The faint sound of an alarm was whining somewhere above us. How long had that been going without me noticing? A more problematic sound of running footfalls and shouting was also making its way swiftly downwards. I mentally cursed for not being more focused, if we didn't make a move soon we were going to be cornered. Both of us were too tired and in Max's case, too injured to fight.

I looked to the jutted pillar where I had hidden before, just behind it was a small space where there was enough room to fit a person. I had snuck in there just as all the other soldiers left, oblivious that they had left one of their own behind. I was also unnoticed by Max. I'd left the 'borrowed' uniform inside because my usual dark clothing was better camouflage in the shadows and fewer clothing made less noise.

I went to it and picked up the spare clothing. As I raised my head, I saw something that avoided my notice before. Within the narrow gap was another gap at the far end, creating an L shaped passage. I squeezed into the small space, ignored the instant claustrophobia and found that there was enough room to turn my body and enter the new space sideways on.

The fast pace footsteps were getting closer and I had to make a quick decision. After weighing my options I slowly eased myself into the narrow passage and completely disappeared into the unknown darkness ahead, leaving Max behind.

* * *

Nudge painfully walked through the perfectly clean and rectangular hallways, trying to find some sense in the red maze. The emergency lighting made it difficult for Nudge to define what she was seeing, everything was either red or black shadow and the sheer strength of the colours made her feel like she was in a horror movie.

She peered fearfully around every corner she came across, her imagination wildly conjuring up zombies and mad, blood stained scientists hiding behind the solid walls that blocked her view. However every hallway so far had been deserted and that didn't make Nudge feel any better. Where was everyone? Shouldn't there be a major panic of people trying to get out?

Her snapped collar was making it painful to inhale and Nudge was trying desperately to control her erratic breathing. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she knew that if she didn't get a grip on her self soon she was going to have a panic attack. However her attempts to calm down weren't working.

The overwhelming cleanness and the smell of disinfectant was bringing back horrible memories and there was nothing and no one around to distract her. Her imagination was creating monsters and horrific looking instruments from the sharp shadows around her and every so often she swore she saw something move. She was lost, alone and in pain and everything around her was seemingly trying to consume her.

She kept going, the faster she left this hell hole, the better.

Eventually Nudge stopped to rest and this time she had no problem leaning against the walls. They were modern and new and hadn't had anything remotely horrible happen within them...yet. All Nudge could feel from them was the peaceful concentration of those who built it and a rather playful but professional atmosphere that the builders shared as they chattered and worked.

The soothing normality from the walls helped to calm Nudge down and she let her hand slide along them as she summoned the energy to get going again. She focused on the atmosphere and conversations that the walls shared and felt a little bit like she was eavesdropping even though she couldn't understand a word they said. She found that the more she listened, the more she convinced herself that it was just a corridor and her previous fears were slowly slinking back into their original forms. She was never going to be able to watch horror movies after this.

Nudge finally reached a dead end. Much like every door she had passed, the one now preventing the continuation of the corridor had a number pad and a small slit where a card key would slide. If it was just a code needed to open the door then Nudge wouldn't have any problems, but from touching it she had learnt that the pad required a key card to activate the buttons themselves.

She was very tempted to just type the code that was now engraved into her eyelids and although she knew the door wouldn't open for her, she did it anyway.

She sighed as the door predictably remained sealed. To release some of her frustration she kicked the door hard and repeatably did so until the area around her broken collar bone hurt too much from the physical exertion.

A very small, almost unnoticeable dent was the result of Nudge's effort and she gave it one last kick for good measure. She turned her back on it and started going back the way she came, intending on returning to the death room. She couldn't use brute force to get through a thick reenforced steel door but she could break through safety glass.

Pleased with her newly thought up plan, Nudge strode confidently towards her destination. However this time something was different.

Visually nothing had changed but Nudge's keen hearing was picking up a new, constant sound that she was pretty sure wasn't there before. It was a small, quiet, kind of high pitched hissing noise and the frequency of it would have been deaf to human ears. But the sharp sting that hit Nudge's nostrils would have been sensed by any kind of animal.

Nudged gasped in shock and quickly covered her nose and mouth. Holding her breath, her eyes quickly scanned for the possible location of the gas emitter but as far as she could see there was no grates or air con ducts where the gas could possibly come from.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of yellow break through the stark redness and she looked over her shoulder to see better. The keypad by the door at the end of the corridor had a small light that was blinking in and out of illumination every second or so and Nudge realised that whatever she did, be it the code typing or the door kicking had set off some kind of security trap.

Nudge kept her mouth securely closed and ran for it. Turning one corner after another, she let her mind go numb to the protests of her injured body and the burning that was developing in her lungs. She had to get out of there, now!

The hissing continued wherever she went, the distance and volume seemingly stayed the same and Nudge felt like she was being followed. The door she was looking for came into sight which was also the only one she knew that had a handle. This was the door that led back to the chute room and possibly Nudge's way out.

Nudge was seeing stars by the lack of oxygen and her lungs were begging her to breathe. The urge was too much and Nudge let her diaphragm stretch, vacuuming the air into her lungs and the bitter taste of anesthetic. She held it, she used what oxygen she could from that contaminated breath to close the distance and touch the keypad above the handle. She punched the newly acknowledged code in and yanked the handle down, literally throwing herself into the room and kicking the door shut.

She lay on the floor breathing heavily and she smiled. Despite the cramp, her injured body and the head rush making her ears ring, she was breathing clean untainted air and she gulped it down gratefully. As she recovered she also noticed that she was receiving the consequences of that last breath. Her vision was starting to blur and even though she wasn't moving, she was starting to feel dizzy. Since she had only taken only one lungful of the stuff, it shouldn't be enough to put her under.

Nudge closed her eyes as she waited for the world to stop spinning and allowed her tired body to rest. The longer she laid there the more sleepy she became and she found it difficult to move, like her energy was being drained.

That must have been some potent stuff, Nudge thought drunkly before slipping into a drugged sleep.

* * *

The guards entered the dark circular room in a rush, they spread out and lifted their torches to scan the area. Circles of light swept the room revealing the decoratively painted walls and carved pillars of stone that reached the ceiling. Above their heads the ceiling sloped into a dome with intricate patterns blooming outwards from the centre and at the borderline where the ceiling and the walls merged were four evenly spaced out arched ledges that settled about a foot within the walls. One of them held a large plain arched window. In the other three sat three stone Angels.

They finished their sweep and left the room, one of the men just lingering by the door to give the room one last observant glance and then followed the others to the next room.

Ten seconds later one of the Angels sneezed.

'I'm bored! Haven't you found Max yet Angel?' Gassy whispered whilst wiping his nose on the back of his hand.

'No, this place is huge! Its like twice the size of the school and I haven't found anyone yet who thinks in English.'

Gassy groaned and slumped back into his perch, restless. Staying here and pretending to be statues was quite funny to start with, but now it was boring! The guards that had come in here never gave them a second look and he was on the verge of almost wanting to be caught.

'I guess you haven't found Nudge yet either?' Iggy asked quietly.

Angel looked at him sympathetically and confirmed his concern. She devotedly went back to her search, letting her mind travel through the stone walls and floors. She had made a kind of map in her head so that she'd know where they would need to go once she had located Max. However this mental searching on this scale was taking its toll on her as she was visibly tired and it became more strenuous to keep focused the further away she went, but she wasn't about to give up until she found Max. Her search was interrupted as more footsteps came this way and the three bird kids waited silently in Angel-like poses.

A fresh set of guards entered the room un-stealthily, clearly not as experienced as the ones who came in before them and made no obvious effort to search the room properly.

One of them casually lifted his light to the ceiling and began to seemingly draw with it. At one point the beam of light passed over one of the Angels and he had a double take, resting the light on the Angel, he looked at its peaceful expression and frowned. Removing the light, the guard shook his head and concluded he was seeing things, for a moment there he swore that Angel was pulling a face.

Once they left the room Gassy sniggered.

'I found her!' Angel exclaimed, gaining both Gassy's and Iggy's attention.

'Where is she, is Nudge with her?' asked Iggy.

'She's four floors down and it's bad. She's been found and the guards are...carrying her,' Angel replied uncertainly.

'Looks like us heroes will have to go save the damsel in distress,' Iggy smirked.

'Why the heck is she being carried? Max would never allow herself to be carried. Did they get her with a sleeping dart or something?' questioned Gassy.

'No...her mind is kinda fuzzy, but she's definitely awake' Angel still had her eyes closed in concentration and a frown creased her young features, 'and she's swearing a lot.'

'That figures.'

The three of them jumped down from their perches and began to brush off the dust they had covered themselves in to make them look like stone.

'My outfit is ruined,' Angel pouted and Gassy rolled his eyes.

They then began their quest with Angel taking the lead. She had memorised the route that would lead them straight to the next floor down and up to the point where she sensed Max last. After that they would have to search normally because even now she was finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. She was so tired.

They ran through several corridors unchallenged until they reached the stairs, which were being quite heavily guarded. It was too late to turn back and they were spotted as they skidded to a stop.

Orders were shouted and they found themselves trapped as their escape route was briskly cut off. They had set an ambush and Angel mentally cursed as she had allowed them to run right into it. Guns were pointed at them from all directions and there were no windows for a possible airborne escape.

Angel tried to influence the one who barked out the orders earlier to let them go but she found that not only was it difficult to penetrate his mind due to fatigue but he also shook her off like an irritant fly. Angel gritted her teeth in annoyance and self disappointment.

They were caught.

* * *

**May I just note that I have no idea what the inside of the Castel Sant Angelo looks like and this is all mostly based off imagination. Well it looks like the whole flock has been caught, what are they going to do now? Review plz, they make me happy :)**


	29. Chapter 29

**And here we are almost half a year later...yeah yeah i know long time so you may want to reread the last chapter or last few chapters just to recap. Enjoy.**

* * *

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! GODDAMMIT THAT HURTS!'

'You brought this on yourself. If you hadn't moved around so much-,'

'SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH BEFORE I SHUT IT FOR YOU SATOSHI!'

Satoshi sighed aggravatingly but held his tongue. Trying to talk sense into Krad was like trying to teach a donkey to sing. Preparing himself for another painful onslaught on his eardrums, Satoshi plunged the needle into Krad's flesh and pulled the thread through.

'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!'

Satoshi was thankful that Krad was keeping relatively still. The straps had gone a long time ago when they discovered Kiba was no where in the vicinity and they had been mutilated beyond use.

Satoshi was worried about his stoic friend. Yesterday his father had been furious to the point of destroying adjacent objects, but this morning he had been in a peaceful calm that had Satoshi's neck hairs standing on end. Kei was planning something, and if it wasn't the prickling on the back of his neck that gave it away it was the severe focus that gleamed in Kei's eyes.

If Krad hadn't accidentally sent Kiba to an alternative universe, then where could the obedient robotic mutant have got to?

Satoshi tied the knot for his last stitch and snapped the thread. The majority of Krad's wounds had mostly healed, no doubt thanks to his magic, but the incision where Satoshi had to imprecisely operate was still relatively fresh and demanded the need for stitches when Krad had maddeningly ripped the first set.

Krad lay fuming on his moldy sofa, his chest raising with barely controlled breaths but Satoshi could tell he was relieved that it was over.

'I take it you're not going to thrash about now?' Satoshi asked rhetorically, receiving a crude curse in response.

Satoshi rolled his eyes knowing that was the closest he was going to get to an affirmative, or even a thank you.

He picked up a fresh roll of bandages and began unravelling it.

'I can do that myself,' Krad said bitterly.

Satoshi mentally shrugged and set the bandages down on Krad's stomach.

'Try to take it easy,' Satoshi advised, even though he knew his words would go unheeded.

Satoshi stood up and walked out the room, determination set in his mind. When he had walked in on his calm father that morning, he had been loading something on his laptop and the loading bar had just reached the end before shutting off all the programs that were open.

Kei had slowly risen from his chair and deliberately left his laptop on the rotten desk, still open, logged in and illuminated with electricity. He turned to Satoshi challengingly and silently walked past him, an almost frightening aura following his gait. Satoshi could only stare wide eyed as his father slid passed him, never before had he seen him like this and what was scarier still was that he was obviously allowing him access to his laptop.

Satoshi was both exited and terrified as the possibilities swarmed his mind. Having access meant he could hack into files, deleted or not and find out what his father's been up to and what he may still be planning. Of course this might also be a trap or a set up made especially for him. Kei knew that Satoshi wouldn't be able to resist prying into his secrets that were a few mouse clicks away. There was a very high chance that Kei had placed something for Satoshi to see that would either throw him off, take a hit at his pride or make him take action that would work in Kei's favor.

Despite the psychological taunting it left in its wake, Satoshi had to ignore the temptation in front of him and attend to Krad's screams.

Satoshi gently stroked the sensitive mousepad with his fingertip and the blank monitor came to life, bringing the desktop onscreen. So many answers were contained in this little silver box and Satoshi had committed himself, for better or for worse he was going to squeeze every bit of information he could out of that damn computer.

* * *

Daisuke sighed in relief once the police officers left. Thankfully all they wanted was a detailed account of what happened two days ago, but like the first time they interrogated them, they had nothing to say. Well they didn't put it quite like that but they truthfully stated that none of them were home when the incident happened.

If they had searched the house they would've found not only numerous stolen treasures but the thief himself lying restlessly in Daisuke's bed.

Dark's injury was nothing more than a scab now but despite his insistence that he was fine, Emiko had threatened to dye With's fur pink if he set a foot out of bed.

Daisuke looked at the little rabbit-like creature snoozing on the cushions and mentally snickered when he imagined it with bright pink fur.

'I hope you're not going to fall behind too much because of this Daisuke,' Emiko sighed sympathetically.

'Huh?'

'Well you've missed at least first class already.'

'Nani? I completely forgot!'

Daisuke rushed down the hall to where he'd left his back pack. Swiping it up, he rushed to the door to open it and ran right into someone.

'Oomph!' they both groaned.

Daisuke sat up from where he fell and rubbed his bruised shoulder, all the while making a pained noise. The other person was doing the same, except he had managed to stay on his feet.

'Daisuke? Oh what luck! I thought you would've been at school already. Why were there cops coming out of your house?'

'Saehara?' Daisuke exclaimed, looking up at him wide eyed, 'What are you doing here?'

'I need to tell-' Saehara cut himself off and his expression turned cautious, 'Not here. Can I come inside?'

Saehara held a hand out to Daisuke and helped him back to his feet.

'Well...sure I guess, but what about school?'

'This is more important, your friends need to know.'

Daisuke was suddenly filled with dread and ushered Saehara inside. Emiko frowned when she saw her son return and then looked surprised when Saehara followed closely behind.

'There's just one problem,' Daisuke began, 'Max and her flock have already left.'

'WHAAAAAAT? When?' Saehara exclaimed whilst glancing about himself, all evidence of the children's stay was gone.

'Two days ago. Why, what's happened?'

Saehara's eyebrows were furrowed in thought and he even brought his hand to his chin.

'But that means they left the same time he did.'

'Who?'

'Kiba. I swear to you I saw him flying over town around lunchtime two days ago.'

'Seriously? You saw him? Did anyone else see him?' Daisuke asked frantically.

'Well...no I don't think so...at first glance I thought it was a bird but it looked oddly shaped so I used my camera to zoom in on it and sure enough he was human shaped. Black wings, black clothing, I could've easily mistaken him for Dark were it not for the fact that Dark never flies during the day.'

He does now, Daisuke silently added. But even so, it definitely wasn't Dark flying that day because he was recovering from his injury in Daisuke's room, not that Saehara knew that.

Daisuke voiced a concern that had bloomed the moment 'two days ago' and 'Kiba' linked together.

'How come you didn't tell us sooner?'

'Well...' Saehara started, bashfully scratching his head, 'I kinda got into trouble. After you had come round asking for any info I could find, I tried hacking into my dad's police files but my dad caught me and I got grounded. I wasn't allowed anything! No Tv, no video games, I couldn't leave the house without his supervision.'

Saehara held his camera possessively and continued, 'I only got to keep my camera because it still had the pictures I wanted for my next report for school and I was lucky to have spotted Kiba when me and dad went grocery shopping.'

Saehara sighed exasperatedly.

'I only wanted to help you know. It took me hours to finally figure out his password and I couldn't find anything of use before my dad walked in.'

'You should've hid it when you heard him coming through the front door, or were you too engrossed in your hacking to notice?' Emiko asked, listening in.

'Actually I had tried to do it in the middle of the night when my dad was asleep but he eventually woke up to the tapping and clicking noises...he then snuck up on me to give me the biggest lecture of my life.'

Daisuke gave his friend a sympathetic look as he continued.

'I wanted to get here sooner but today was the only opportunity I got. I thought I'd better inform Pox girl first because she's the gang leader. But speaking of which, where have they gone and why have they left?'

'They've gone to destroy the last Itex base,' Daisuke replied as he took a seat, 'We don't know exactly where.'

'Dammit!' Saehara screamed, tugging at his hair.

'What is it?'

Daisuke stared at him fearfully, wondering what knowledge he had come across to cause such a reaction.

'Last time I came here, I was so hyped up from getting to interview them that I forgot to take their pictures!'

Daisuke collapsed on the sofa humorously. That was all he was worried about?

'You are such a simpleton Saehara-san,' Emiko giggled, 'You two should get going, you're late enough as it is.'

'But you still haven't told me-'

'Daisuke can explain on the way, now shift it!'

After being hazardously thrown out the door by Emiko, both boys headed to school at a slow walk with Daisuke explaining what had happened the day before.

'No way! Kiba attacked them?'

'But it wasn't his fault,' Daisuke defended, 'He was being manipulated somehow. Max told me that he didn't know who they were but only knew them as targets. Also he kept referring himself as Kiba like it was his real name.'

'Hypnosis?'

'Maybe.'

'Well what are we waiting for! We gotta investigate this thing!'

'Investigate? But we have school-'

'We've already missed the morning classes so we may as well flunk the rest. Come on Daisuke, we can't help your friends by learning basic education.'

Saehara rushed down the street with Daisuke close behind him.

'Where are we going?' Daisuke yelled against the wind.

'Internet Cafe!'

* * *

Satoshi was sweating. Perspiration trickled down his neck and became absorbed by his shirt collar, further moistening his already damp shirt.

His fingers rested against the keyboard but he couldn't stop them from shaking. The computer screen illuminated his pale, blood drained face and highlighted the reflective surface of his glasses and skin.

Satoshi knew his fathers hacking skills were good, but he never expected this kind of achievement.

Displayed on the screen were blueprints and security codes to the Itex headquarters and after looking over the details, Satoshi had determined that the facility was just as vast and heavily protected as the pentagon. What was scary was that there were people who had just as much power as the American government.

Satoshi began tapping once more and uncovered another file. This time Satoshi thought he was going to be sick. Just in the corner of the screen was a digital clock gradually counting down to zero and the window next to it was a map of the world with each country labeled with its survival rate.

* * *

Shortly after leaving the internet cafe, Saehara used his lunch money to buy a new notepad and pen and took the lead once more.

'Sae- I mean Takeshi, where are we going now?'

'To the tourist information building,' Takeshi said like it was obvious.

'Why?' Daisuke asked, genuinely confused.

The pair of them had browsed the internet searching for methods of how a person could be brainwashed into thinking they were someone else. The closest solution they could find was what Saehara suggested earlier; hypnosis.

'Well where else are we going to find out where a hypnotist is?'

'I suppose,' Daisuke said unsurely, 'but...hypothetically, say Fang was indeed influenced by hypnosis, how do we know that it wasn't done by someone outside the town? Or if our culprit isn't a hypnotist by trade?'

Saehara suddenly stopped and whirled around, nearly brushing his nose with Daisuke's. Daisuke flinched back in shock.

'Those...are very good questions my dear Niwa,' Saehara praised. He withdrew his face from Daisuke's and began slowly pacing back and forth and scribbling away on his notepad.

'This also leads to the question of why Fang was hypnotised in the first place, fire away Daisuke.'

'Eh?'

'Throw some suggestions at me.'

'Um-,'

'Fang might've seen something, or known something that our culprit didn't want anyone to know about and to make sure he didn't talk, he hypnotised Fang,' Saehara interrupted, scribbling excitedly.

Daisuke didn't want to delude Saehara from the real truth that Fang was manipulated by magic, but maybe something good might come out of this almost play investigation. Besides Saehara was right, they wouldn't be any help by wasting time in school. Also Saehara was fully committed to it now, so Daisuke may as well tag along to keep him out of trouble...or at least try to.

'Then, why didn't they hypnotise him so he would just forget that event? Why make him forget who he was when that would make the people around him concerned that something happened to him?'

Saehara paused his pacing and waved his pen towards Daisuke in a kind of positive manner.

'Thats a good point,' he said slowly, 'Ok say my first hypothesis is true, why would someone make it so obvious that something had happened?'

Daisuke rolled his eyes up in thought, despite the seriousness of the situation Daisuke was starting to enjoy this little game. It certainly helped that Saehara was asking sane and plausible questions for once.

'Maybe its a game to them, maybe they want to be chased,' Saehara nodded his head in understanding and jotted it down, 'Or they might be seeking help and did something drastic to gain attention that would lead us to them,' again Saehara nodded his head, his own eyes drifting skyward in thought, 'Or the memory loss was a complete accident and the culprit isn't even aware he's made a mistake.'

'Just what I was thinking!' Saehara obviously lied.

'But none of that makes any sense Takeshi,' Daisuke added, 'If Fang truly did see something and was hypnotised for it, then surely he would have been freed to avoid suspicion.'

'Yeah...yeah...you're right that doesn't make sense.' Saehara agreed dejectedly.

'Besides, Fang went missing before he was hypnotised. I'm pretty sure he wasn't hypnotised when he was at school-'

'Does that mean his kidnapper allowed him to go to school?' Saehara blurted, 'He was still missing when he was attending school right? Before we realised Fang and Kiba were one and the same?'

Daisuke's eyes widened, 'Yes! But why would they do that?'

'This isn't an ordinary case of kidnapping,' Saehara deduced, 'it's strange, too controlled, most kidnappers would keep their victims out of sight and locked up. How did they convince Fang to cooperate?'

Saehara looked at Daisuke expectantly.

'Blackmail,' Daisuke replied easily.

'With Max as the bait,' Saehara agreed, 'but if Fang was cooperating, why did they hypnotise him?'

'Because they failed to capture the flock with their own methods. By using Fang the flock would lower their guard and maybe even hesitate to hurt him.'

'They obviously underestimated Pox girl's resolve neh?' Saehara grinned.

The grin suddenly disappeared and Daisuke could almost see the light bulb flick on above Saehara's head.

'Wait a minute, didn't Fang say something about being related to Satoshi or something? Those two stuck together like glue at school and Fang even went home with him.'

Saehara's eyes went wide with shock.

'Don't tell me...Hiwatari Satoshi...he's been keeping Fang prisoner?'

'Hiwatari-kun wouldn't do that!' Daisuke defended, 'he and Fang are good friends, they were smiling and laughing when they were together. Why would they behave like that if they were in a captor and captive relationship.'

'You've got a point there, I don't think Satoshi even knew how to laugh let alone fake it. So that leaves one possible suspect and I already don't like it.'

'Hiwatari Kai,' Daisuke confirmed.

'And my dad's boss. Oh boy,' Satoshi replied solemnly.

* * *

**Sorry it's short, next chapter should be better. I know I don't deserve reviews for making you guys wait so long but they would be nice. Ja ne**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey, bet you weren't expecting me to rear my ugly head out again did ya? I know it's been ages since I've updated and lots of things have been going on besides my forever lingering writers block that has finally kicked its own ass out the door, yeah! :) Thank you everyone for still reading, reviewing, making my story one of your favourites and I hope you're still motivated to read another of my chapters. The next chapter should be updated considerably sooner than this one. 30 chapters and the story isn't over yet :s**

* * *

Is it me or am I experiencing a little bit of deja vu?

I am tied down, I'm in a huge base that no one is supposed to know about and locked behind bars. How many times has scenario been repeatably used in my lifetime?

Although I said I was tied down, I have to say this is a first for me since I woke up in a straight jacket. It's the most awkward and uncomfortable piece of clothing I have ever been forced to wear yet it's probably the most effective way of restraining us that Itex have ever thought of.

And when I finally get it off I'm going to tear the thing to shreds!

It's like what you'd expect from a straight jacket except these were obviously custom made to hold avian humans. I swear they had woven lead into this thing because the material was thick, heavy and itched like a rash! My arms were wrapped around myself as you'd expect but they had replaced the normal soft straps for thick leather ones. So not only does it prevent any movement from my arms but it also kills the chance of breaking my wings free.

Not that it would do any good seeing as the jacket was heavier than I was. Dare I say it, it was worse than being in a dog crate. I have wriggled and slammed against the walls of my underground cell and figured that I could probably dig a tunnel out of here long before the straps would wear and break.

What I was doing was probably not good for my injuries either, I don't know whether to be thankful or not that Itex treated them before slinging the jacket on.

It was severely claustrophobic.

The cell I was in was small and narrow with just enough room for a man to pace back and forth...which many a man must have done judging by the curved dip in the floor. The door was arched, like many of the doors in this place, and made of steel with a barred peeking window at eye level.

There was no light other than the electric lights that were constantly on in the corridor outside my cell. I had no idea what time it was or how long I'd been there.

Eventually I heard the bolt screech as it was unlocked and I stood up, using the wall for support and prepared myself. They may have completely restrained my wings and arms, but I could still use my legs.

The door opened and two guards positioned themselves in the doorway, aiming their guns at me.

'You, come with us,' one of them ordered thickly.

I gave him a look that said -you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me- and stayed where I was.

'Come!'

I stuck my tongue out at him and blew a raspberry. Childish I know, but as you've noticed, I didn't have my hands free to give him the finger.

The guard who spoke seemed to sigh in aggravation before signaling to his partner to leave the cell. He followed after and left me confused as they had also left the door wide open. I didn't have to wait long for the reason why.

I silently swore as a Flyboy dipped it head to get into my cell, its mechanical red eyes focused on me and it seemingly grinned when it found it's prey. Even tied up I could easily knock a man out, but a Flyboy? They're a little harder to crack.

It didn't stop me from trying though.

As the Flyboy approached me I prepared for my attack. Once it was close enough I threw my weight forward and put all my might into this kick. Sad thing was, I forgot to compensate for the extra weight this stupid jacket added. I fell like a rock, completely missing my intended target of the Flyboy's kneecap and instead caught it on it's shin.

My attack did nothing but shove the Flyboy's leg back, making it momentarily lose balance and what was worse, I was stuck flat on my back and wedged in the dip in the floor so I couldn't get up. I was like an overturned turtle that was washed up on the shore.

I just made it so much easier for the Flyboy to pick me up and carry me out the door.

It took me down the corridor with the two guards following close behind and we seemed to step into a different dimension as we stopped briefly in front of a pair of double steel doors that opened to reveal a spacey, circular, high-tech elevator. The trip was so smooth that I couldn't tell if we were going up or down...although that might be because my feet were suspended off the floor.

When the doors opened again I was brought into a large, very clean looking room. Around the plaster walls stood majestic arching stone pillars, the only give away that we were still in the castle, that joined in the centre of the ceiling.

In the centre of the floor was a large black panel with small but powerful projectors on each corner. It was currently projecting and rotating a very detailed 3D image of the earth, showing half of it in the sun's light and the other cast in shadow. It even showed the artificial lights in the shadowed half that could be seen from space and a orbiting moon that was nearing the end of it's monthly cycle.

Around the walls were huge computers with equally huge monitors which all had madly typing white coats completely engrossed in their work. They didn't even notice I had arrived.

The Flyboy continued to carry me like a homing pigeon onto a platform that over saw the white coats workplace and was level with the 3D projection. On it stood a man in a expensive looking suit with his back to me, looking at another huge screen with a map of the world on it. He was listening to a guard whom paused briefly to stare at me before continuing his report, glancing at me nervously as he spoke.

I can't be surprised at this because who wouldn't stare at an 8ft robot carrying a person 2ft off the ground like it was nothing? It was either that or the fact that I was staring murder at anyone who happened to look my way.

The suited man finally dismissed the guard, who saluted before carefully striding past, and turned to meet my murderous gaze.

He wasn't fazed in the least. He was old, but his face didn't show much of his age. His hair and finely trimmed mustache were white with streaks of grey, but his face was so peachy smooth it must have been repeatedly pumped with botox in order to keep it wrinkle free. He was handsome...if you were into men with grey hair but it was plainly clear that this guy cared a lot for his image. He was wearing a silk shirt for heavens sake.

He smiled at me in way that reminded me unpleasantly of Jeb and it made me dislike the guy even more.

'Hello Max.'

God, he even spoke like him. Bleh!

'Put her down please. Would you like a seat? That jacket must be very heavy.'

'Then how about removing it?' I asked sarcastically as I was lowered back on my feet.

The man chuckled and shook his head like I just told a pleasant joke and directed me to a white leather sofa that almost blended into the walls. I decided to sit on the armrest because if I decided to run, jumping off an armrest would be far easier than from the smothering cushions of the seat. I also wanted to see how he reacted to my behavior.

He continued to smile and tilted his head as if to say -fair enough-.

'Now,' he announced, 'to business. My name is Erwin Fletcher and as you've probably figured out, I am the current Director of the Itex company since the retirement of Marian Janssen whom I believe you've met.'

The hair on the back of neck rose at the mentioning of that woman.

'She's not here is she?'

'Oh good heavens no,' he chuckled, 'she is no longer allowed to oversee any projects being conducted by Itex. But speaking of projects, this is what I have brought you here to talk about.'

Now isn't that a surprise, I thought sarcastically.

'This,' he said whilst waving his arm dramatically, 'is operation EDEN. We have studied and collected data from all over the globe on weather patterns, climate change, habitat stability, and can you guess what is the main cause of change to these factors?'

'The amount of botox you've used?'

'Human intervention,' he said dramatically, 'Agriculture results in the deforestation of trees, making fewer homes for the natural wildlife and cutting down the very things that keep us alive. Our continued use of fossil fuels results in millions of metric tonnes of carbon emissions being released every year and causing the green house effect which is the direct cause of global warming. Not even volcanoes, the earth's natural carbon dioxide emitters, produce that much!'

He began pacing in front of me and taking deep breaths to cool down from his passionate speech. He then took a seat on the side away from me and leant on his own arm rest. I tensed.

'Do you know what'll happen if the world continues like this?' he asked me politely.

I honestly didn't.

'Come on have a guess, you're a smart girl,' he encouraged me.

'Major climate change,' I shrugged.

'Yes, yes, and?'

'...It'll get hotter because of global warming?'

'Exactly, and do you know what'll happen after the warming has stopped?' he leaned towards me, 'we'll be on the verge of another ice age.'

'Ice age?' I laughed, 'You mean to tell me that once the earth been cooked, we're gonna freeze?'

'I hear your disbelieving tone,' he wagged a playful finger at me, 'You understand the concept of the green house effect yes?'

He got up from his seat with a bit of a strain and walked over to his computer, pressing a few buttons the map disappeared from the screen to be replaced with a cartoon looking earth that was sealed within a thin circle of purple and a thick semi circle of orange.

'Carbon dioxide traps heat and reflects back into our atmosphere like so,' he said pointing to the orange curve as a wavy red arrow shoots into the screen and bounces between the earth and the orange line. 'Once the entire earth is covered in a blanket of carbon dioxide,' he hit a button and the orange grew around the earth until it was a complete circle and a new heat arrow came in only to bounce off the orange layer and back into space, 'the heat we receive from the sun is no longer going to get through and once that heat energy runs out...'

He hit a button again and the heat arrow bouncing within the earth's atmosphere shrunk until it disappeared and then the earth suddenly turned blue and grew icicles.

'This is the reality we're facing my dear and it is inevitable,' he said solemnly, 'the problem is, there are so many disbelieving people out there who dismiss global warming as a myth or simply don't want to see what's in front of them because they're afraid of change.'

He slowly walked back to the sofa and creakily sat himself down.

'With our addition of emissions, this ice age could happen less than a millennia from now and to you, being so young, probably think that's ages away. I can assure you it's not,' he humphed, 'naturally this ice aging process repeats itself every several thousand years, that is to go by saying there isn't a meteorite causing a major extinction, and that gives life a chance to adapt, to evolve to the gradual change in climate. If the change is too sudden then we'll all die out.'

'Is that why you've brought me here?' I asked angrily, 'to experiment on me more, to see if I can survive an ice age?'

'Good heavens no!' he exclaimed, 'You are by far the key to this project but experimentation is regrettably the sick means of research for the previous Director. A few vials of blood is all that I am going to ask of you Max. You have my word.'

I was so very confused. He was polite, he was nice, minus the fact that he has me tied up tighter than a knot, I actually was starting to like him. I couldn't be sure if he was being genuinely...genuine or if this whole display had been an act. I found myself wanting to believe him.

'I'm sorry,' I said honestly, 'But I don't trust anyone by their word.'

He nodded his head understandably and...did I see disappointment in his eyes? Gah I hate him for making me like him.

'Sir!' a guard yelled abruptly, making me jump, 'It is almost time sir.'

Erwin again lifted himself stiffly from his seat and if I wasn't so tied up I might have found the kindness to help him. Being as it may, he can stay stuck in a sitting position and unable to get up for all I care.

He hobbled across back to the computer and switched the screen back to the world map, where I noticed a digital clock counting down from five minutes.

'Erwin,' I said uneasily, 'what is that counting down to?'

'The first stage of the EDEN operation,' he smiled fondly, 'We're about the save the world.'

* * *

Satoshi pushed his glasses firmly onto his nose for the fiftieth time. Next to him lay the contents of his stomach and he was trying very hard to push the nausea down.

Up on screen was the detailed file of an 'Operation EDEN' and Satoshi didn't know what made him more ill, Itex's horrific plan or the fact that the only way to stop it from happening was to let Kei do as he pleased.

Operation EDEN was conceived under the conclusion that overpopulation was causing a continuos rise in global warming effects and would lead to an early ice age.

In order to control this problem, Itex's new Director Erwin Fletcher has decreed that 96 percent of the world's human population must be annihilated if a steady and slow climate change can be achieved.

A biological attack was the selected method of execution due to the necessity of keeping the Earth and other animal and plant species intact. Itex could control how deadly the disease could be and make it so only humans will be targeted.

The chosen bacterium was Yersinia pestis, or bubonic plague. The bacterium has been carefully modified to be immune to the current available vaccine and be infectious only to humans. Various successful tests have assured that animals and plants will not be affected by this strand of plague.

Also a vaccine has been developed to be given to those whom Fletcher has deemed worthy to carry on the human gene and who's intelligence would benefit the next generation. They will be the only survivors.

The second phase of the operation explained why Itex was so desperate to capture the flock, or more specifically Max.

Max's DNA held the vital information into creating a successful mix of human hybrid and her talent to survive and gain revolutionary abilities that developed through her experience proved that encouraging human evolution was the way forward. The children of the chosen survivors would be engraved with avian DNA so they too would be born with wings and be able to travel without causing carbon emissions and develop abilities that would help them survive in a non-human dominant world.

As the climate gradually changes, plant and animal species will be able to evolve to cope or allow new species to evolve, but ultimately humanity would survive.

However thanks to Kei the first stage of this plan won't even come about and instead could...no will put the world in Kei's hands.

'You look pale, Toshi-kun.'

Satoshi turned to see Krad leaning against the doorway. For once he wasn't smirking, he looked tired and his body was slumped with poorly applied bandages but even his injuries and lack of energy didn't dampen his intimidating look.

'I thought I told you to take it easy,' Satoshi said shakily.

Krad stared silently for a moment, taking in Satoshi's condition and obvious distress.

'This is starting to piss me off Satoshi,' Krad frowned and began walking slowly forward,'lately it has been other people who have been creating this fearful expression.'

Krad placed a hand on Satoshi's chair to steady himself and leaned forwards to meet Satoshi's face. He almost growled when his light made no reaction to his advance. He suddenly grabbed Satoshi's chin, making him gasp fearfully and satisfying Krad's ego for a moment. Krad loosened his hold and began to caress Satoshi's cheek with his thumb.

'This kawii face that used to make the most beautifully fearful expressions for me, is now being shown for someone else.' Krad pulled his face in closer and Satoshi tried to pull back defiantly but Krad gripped his face again. 'I'm jealous Toshi-kun,' Krad whispered gently.

Krad gave a satisfied smirk as he felt Satoshi's throat muscles tense as he swallowed. Drawn to the fascinating movement, Krad began to follow the motion with his finger and explored the dips and crevices around the hollow of Satoshi's neck.

'You would tell me if anyone was upsetting you, wouldn't you Toshi-kun?' Krad said almost lovingly, 'Wouldn't it be easier if you allowed yourself to fear me and only me? I can make it stop, those others who dare to hurt what is mine.'

'That would be quite difficult Krad.'

Krad tilted his head in annoyance as Kei entered the room.

'What Satoshi fears right now isn't a person, but an event.'

'If it's an event caused by people then I can permanently delay it,' Krad shot back angrily. He hated it when Kei was being smart with him.

'Not in your current condition and certainly not when you have three minutes until it starts,' Kei said whilst viewing his watch.

Krad growled but had no comeback.

'Step aside you two. It's time for me to make my move.'

* * *

'Where is my flock?' I demanded.

It was mad. Complete and utterly mad.

96 percent of the population? That's like...what's four percent of six billion taken away from six billion? That's a too big of a number for me to work out in my head. All I know is that's a hell of a lot of zeros.

'No need to worry Max, they're perfectly safe. One of my guards is currently fetching a nurse to apply them with the vaccine. You'll need one too once the missiles have taken off.'

2 minutes left.

'But what about all those people? Surely you could've just blackmailed the world into making some extreme changes?'

'Ah, if only it were that simple,' he said sadly, 'blackmailing would be effective yes, but we are not as big as an organization as we used to be and if our final base were discovered which, given time, it would, we would be overthrown and nothing would change.'

1 minute left.

There was nothing I could do. I just stared at the screen and watched the numbers tick by.

Then something really strange happened. Just as the clock reached the 30 second mark, the screen, monitors and the holographic image flickered and the countdown stopped.

'What's going on?' Erwin ordered.

The monitors began flickering again before completely fuzzing out into a static snowstorm. White coats were frustratingly jabbing at their keyboards with little success and shouting at each other.

'WHAT'S GOING ON?'

I jumped at the shear volume and ferocity that I didn't think was possible from a fragile old man. He was gripping the safety bars so tightly that his knuckles turned white and his veins stood prominently on the back of his hands.

'Everything has gone offline!' someone shouted below, 'The system has been hacked! Someone is downloading all of our data!'

'Well stop them!'

'It's already too late Itex.'

A deep confident voice resonated around the room. The monitors and hologram began to flicker again and once they stopped, a clear image of a smirking oriental man came onto the screen. He wore huge thin rimmed glasses and a plain white cotton shirt. I could only assume that he was wearing pants because only his head and shoulders were visible.

'Hiwatari! You Japanese scum!' Erwin identified angrily.

What was this? An evil mastermind rivalry? Just what I needed...wait what? Did Erwin just curse a racial enmity?

'Good evening yourself Fletcher,' Hiwatari replied good heartily.

I felt a chill go down my spine. There was something about his smile that gave me the creeps.

'Ah, and good evening to you too, Max.'

The chills multiplied.

'I have contacted you on this fine night to inform you that I have now disabled all your operating systems for this particular project and I have already changed the ignition codes for the missile launch. Not only that but I have broken through all of your firewalls and downloaded all of your...more adventurous activities that would no doubt have the lot of you put away for life.'

'Bastard! Me and this team had nothing to do with those previous operations!'

'I don't think the law would see it that way,' he chuckled darkly, 'So, if you don't want me to expose you then I suggest you cooperate.'

'What do you want? Money?' Erwin asked irritably. I had a feeling that Erwin was more annoyed that this Hiwatari was interfering with his plan than the fact that he had just blackmailed him. I was getting really concerned to where his loyalties lay and I was more concerned to what this Hiwatari wanted. His reaction to the suggestion of money was by no means satisfied.

'Money? A bit of a cliche bargaining chip isn't it? I think you know what I really want.'

Erwin momentary turned his head to look at me and turned back again.

'Absolutely not.'

Hiwartai chuckled again, 'Well then, I'll see you in court.'

Then the lights went out.

* * *

**I'd just like to mention that I'm not lecturing anyone about environment issues by including it in my story. It's just a continuing theme from the Maximum Ride books and the environment is something that I can unfortunately remember a lot of details about from both high school and college. Also it just happens to be showing up a lot on the discovery channel so I have based a lot of this stuff on facts or accurate theories.**

**Anyways, reviews are always welcome. Til next time, ja ne.**


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